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RDBAIYAT OF SOLOMON 

AND OTHER POEMS. 



BY 

AMANDA T. JONES 

Author of "Utah," "Atlantis amd Other Poems," "A 
Prairie Idyl," etc. 



NEW YORK! 

ALDEN BROTHERS, Publishers, 
1905. 



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Copyright, 

Amanda T. Jones. 

A. D. 1905. 



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INSCRIBED 

With immeasurable gratitude 

and affection 

To My Brothers: 

Long known among men as 

THE REV. RUFUS COOLEY, 

AND 

WILLIAM COLLINS JONES, 

Lovers of Holiness, Israelites indeed in whom 
was no guile, 

A. T. J. 



INTRODUCTION. 

BY J. N. LARNED, 

[Author of "Seventy Centuries of the Life of 
Mankind," and editor of "History for Ready Ref- 
erence and Topical Reading."] 

When a poet invites me to associate my name 
with her own, in such a volume of verse as this, 
I cannot decline the honor, even though I must 
take it by the assumption of an office which I 
ought not to fill. Except in the modesty of her 
own feeling, there is no reason for what seems 
to be my presentation of Miss Jones to readers 
who know her much better than they can pos- 
sibly know me. It may be that her song is 
more widely familiar than her name; since 
much of it has gone unnamed, in the first in- 
stance, to the world, and is cherished lovingly 
in many memories, waiting for the personal as- 
sociation which this book may afford. 

To a considerable public the present collec- 
tion of Miss Jones's poetical work may reveal 
a new star in American literature ; but the poets 
recognized her and welcomed her to their com- 
pany at the beginning, almost, of her published 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

writing. The little volume, of some twenty 
years ago, that took a title from its leading 
poem, "A Prairie Idyl" (issued anonymously, 
except in a few private copies), drew letters of 
warm admiration from Whittier, Holmes, 
Boker, Stoddard, Jean Ingelow, Austin Dob- 
son, and many more, and was reviewed with 
very hearty appreciation by the foremost crit- 
ics of the day ; but an unfortunate fire destroyed 
most of the edition and it went into not many 
hands. It deserved a very different fate; for 
nothing finer in thought, feeling, imagination, 
phrasing or melody, is to be found in American 
verse. The title poem is a perfect nature-picture 
from the teeming West. Then, by a striking 
change of note in the next poem, entitled ''Serv- 
ice and Sacrifice," the most solemn impressive- 
ness is given to a great religious thought; and 
that is followed by a delicious modulation into 
strains of tenderness in the third poem, "Fa- 
ther" (the noblest in the book, for me) ; and so, 
throughout, the emotional variations are mar- 
vellously wrought. 

In imaginative richness and power, but not 
in sweeter qualities, those poems are surpassed, 
perhaps, by some which appeared in an earlier 
volume, written mostly in the years of the civil 
war, and inspired by the griefs, the hopes, the 
heroic passions of that trial time. One poem 
in the older collection, entitled "The Proph- 
ecy of the Dead," written in April, 1861, can 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

never Have been read and forgotten by one who 
had Hved through the emotions of that dread 
month. 

It is to be hoped that some day, not distant, 
will give us a collected edition of the writings 
of Miss Jones. What we receive now adds 
largely and importantly to her poetical work, 
especially in the historical quality which so 
many of her lyrics have taken from the inspira- 
tion of great events. "The Saving of an Em- 
pire," dedicated to John Hay, and 'Tanama," 
are among the fine poems of recent years which 
have that historical significance, and which 
greatly enrich the book. 

To say that a permanent high place in Ameri- 
can literature belongs to the poems of Amanda 
T. Jones is to express the judgment of many 
whose critical opinion has vastly more weight 
than mine. 

Buffalo, N. Y., May, 1905. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 3 

Introduction ^^ ] 

David Gray ^5 j 

RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. ; 

Scroll I. 

Labor without End I7 

Desolation of the Wise i8 

Scroll IL ■ 

Vanity of Greatness 20 

Wisdom and Folly 22 ; 

Portion without Labor 24 < 

The Gifts of God 25 

Scroll IIL , 

Times and Seasons 26 

Equity in Judgment 28 

Scroll IV. ! 

Oppressors 3^ ; 

The Miser 3i i 

Union in Labor 3i ; 

The Multitude 32 

Scroll V. 

The Place of Worship 3^ \ 

God's Omniscience 34 i 

Wealth and Poverty 35 | 

Happiness 3" I 

Scroll VL ' 

Possessions not Enjoyed 3° j 

Life without Honor 38 \ 

One Place for All 39 ] 

Walking by Desire 39 j 

Evil and Good - 40 1 

Scroll VII. " 1 

A Good Name 41 ' 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Scroll VII. — Continued. page 

Wisdom in Sorrow 41 

Patience under Oppression 42 

Wisdom a Defence 43 

Searching for Wisdom 46 

Scroll VIII. 

The King 48 

Sentence Delayed 49 

Judgment Mis-applied 50 

The Work of God 51 

Scroll IX. 

Life and Death 53 

The End of All 54 

Joy in Life 54 

Time and Chance 55 

The Reward of Wisdom 56 

Scroll X. 

The Wisdom of Discretion 58 

Government 61 

Neglect 61 

Feasting 62 

The Wisdom of Secrecy 62 

Scroll XL 

Charities 63 

Light and Darkness 64 

Judgment to Come 65 

Scroll XII. 

The Spirit 66 

The Preacher ,. 68 

Deliverance 71 

From a Far Contree y^ 

The Lady Gwyneth. 

Part I 74 

Part II 77 

Part III 82 

Glossary 89 

Kansas Bird Songs. 

A Mocking-Bird 91 

The Thrush 92 

The Purple Finch 93 

Che- wink 06 

The Red-Bird 97 



CONTENTS. IX 

PAGE 

Abigail Becker loo 

Sea-Trout io8 

Interludes. 

My Little Wife no 

A Lover to His Lady 113 

Epithalamium 116 

The Child 119 

"King David" 121 

Bugler Dunn 123 

Vincent Archer 125 

Mamie's Kisses 127 

A Small Pessimist 129 

Beauty 132 

Coming Home 135 

POSTLUDES. 

Christmas Day I39 

At the Ford 141 

A New Commandment I43 

Comforted I44 

Made Manifest I44 

Doors of Olive 146 

' A Christian 149 

Field and Garden. 

Food-Seekers 151 

The Sensitive Brier 152 

One of Many 153 

Flowers and a Weed 154 

DULCISSIM^. 

Spirit of Benediction 161 

An Evangelist 162 

Victim and Victor 164 

One Merciful 166 

His Minister 167 

The Life Beautiful 169 

Friends Remaining 171 

The Hereafter. 

His Voice i73 

At First 175 

Afterward 176 

Their Heavenly House' 178 

Without the Gates 182 

A Flower of Paradise , 184 



X CONTENTS. 

National and International. page 

America i88 

The Saving of an Empire 190 

Fort Riley I94 

Hawaii 198 

"My Irish" I99 

America to England 202 

Panama 205 

A Song of Peace 207 

Finis 209 



DAVID GRAY, 



If, for a breathing-space, reprieved we were, 

Who still in these dim-windowed prisons mourn, — 
To Heaven's empurpled veils full high were borne, 
Then should we see and evermore aver, 
Slighter they are than sheerest gossamer. 

Within, white souls, to souls from earth up-torn 
Or loosed in slumber-time from bodies worn. 
The all-sweet sacraments administer. 
Into that lucency a poet passed, 

Of whom men said: "There Hits a woodland 
bird, 
"From Scotland bloivn— scarce ruffled in the blast! 

Be still and seem as though we had not heard 
And he will sing the more." . . . Oh, stillness vast. 
Wherein nor voice nor wing of throstle stirred! 

II. 

'Ah, let us dream! . . . And, being welcomed there. 
With gentle words low-murmured in the ear: 
"Wait thou with us until our Lord draw near, 
Who will appoint thee," — many a spirit _ fair 
Came greeting him; and songs were in the air: 
Till he, forgetting self, all fain to hear, 
Cried: "Soft your voices are and silver clear! 
"Shall not these bards the very laurel wear?" 

Then silence fell . . . Even as a wind that ails 
The iinderboughs where buds were held from 
bloom, 
The Lord passed through .... Rose such a voice 
as thrills 
The dullest ear: "Great Dante, out of gloom 
"Delivered long! — Crowned poets on the hills!— 
A poet comes to worship: give him room!" 

(15) 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON, 

Third King of Israel. 
1015—977 B. c. 



SCROLL I. 
Labor without End. 

I. 

Hear what the Preacher, son of David, saith 
All is but vanity and idle breath ! 

What profit hath a man for labor done? 
For all is vanity from birth to death. 

II. 

Man's generations pass — remaineth none 
But earth abideth still ; also the sun 

Ariseth, goeth down and to his place 
Whence he arose, hasteth the shining one. 

III. 

The wind that goeth South a little space, 
Toward the North, turneth about his face; 

Whirling continually returneth he 
And in his circuits doth the earth embrace. 



1 8 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

IV. 

Lo, all the rivers run into the sea 

Yet is the sea not full ! — therefrom set free, 

Into the place from whence the rivers run 
Do they return, each one in his degree. 

V. 

For all is labor underneath . the sun : 
Man cannot utter it; the eye of none 

Is satisfied with seeing, nor the ear 
Yet filled with hearing that Vv^hich hath been 
done. 

VI. 

The thing that hath been, shall again appear. 
Of what may it be rumored far or near : 

See! — this is new I — a miracle rev^ere! 
Foolish are they that speak and they that hear. 



Desolation of the Wise. 
I. 

Hear, Israel ! I the King of David's line, 
Preached in Jerusalem of things divine. 

I gave my heart to seek and search them 
out, 
By wisdom moved to make all knowledge mine. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. I9 

11. 

Seeking within the temple and without, — 
Concerning all things yet was I in doubt. 

God giveth unto man this travail sore, 
So to be exercised and tossed about. 



III. 



I have seen all the works done heretofore 
And know that vanity is all their store. 

That which is crooked cannot be made 
straight, 
I'hat wanting aught cannot be numbered more. 



IV. 



I with my heart communed : What shall abate 
""Ty glory? I am come to great estate. 

Above all men of knowledge I am chief : 
Yea, in experience my heart is great! 



V. 



All is vexation! as the flying leaf 
Wisdom and folly pass, — their time is brief. 

Behold, much wisdom maketh desolate! 
Iiicreasing knowledge man increaseth grief. 



20 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

SCROLL IL 
Vanity of Greatness. 

I. 

Go to, my heart ! thee will I prove with mirth. 
Enjoy thy pleasure; take thy fill of earth; 

To madness and to mirth thyself resign : — 
This, too, is vanity and nothing worth. 

IL 

Say thou of all delights : Lo, they are mine ! 
Therewith I sought to give myself to wine. 
That I with w^isdom might my heart ac- 
quaint 
I let my steps to folly's ways incline. 

IIL 

So, laying hold on folly wath restraint 
Of wisdom, — while the laborers made com- 
plaint 
I sought to know that which w^as good for 
them ; 
What maketh to rejoice and what to faint. 

IV. 

Greater wms I than all of royal stem : 
Neither might any man my works condemn : 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 21 



Also I had possessions over all 
Aforetime dwelling in Jerusalem. 



V. 



Houses I had within the city wall ; 

Upon the hills much cattle great and small; 

Gardens with pools and orchards manifold 
Whose watered trees all kind of fruit let fall. 



VI. 



I gat me servants, — none their number told, 
Born in my house : silver I had and gold 

And the peculiar treasure of the kings 
And provinces : — did none their gifts withhold. 

VII. 

I gat me the delight that music brings: 
Women and men — yea, every voice that sings! 
All instruments, the greatest and the least : 
Their sound v/as like the roar of mighty wings. 

VIII. 

On the delights of men my heart did feast; 
Neither desire of sweets nor pleasure ceased ; 

Also my wisdom still remained with me. 
So I was great and greatly I increased! 



22 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

IX. 

Within my courts did all men bow the knee; 
I hid not what mine eyes desired to see; 

My heart rejoiced at every work begun — 
That joy in labor should my portion be. 

X. 

Then did I look on all my labors done, 

The works my hands had finished — every one. 

Their memory was as the winds that flee: 
There was no profit underneath the sun! 



Wisdom and Folly. 

I. 

To wisdom, madness, folly turned I then : 
After the king what work is left for men ? 
Or how shall joy in labor them incite 
What is already done to do again ? 

II. 

Wisdom excelleth folly far as light 
Excelleth darkness. If the sun be bright 

How are the foolish blinded ! Yet the wise 
May in his presence walk, nor veil the sight. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 2^ 

III. 

The fool in darkrxcss walketh. Lo, mine eyes 
Perceived this also : Underneath the skies 
Is one event that happeneth to all, — 
Neither can wisdom any help devise. 



IV. 



Then said I in mine heart : It doth befall 
To me, who builded high the city wall, 

As to the fool In what have I surpassed? 
If foolish or if wise, shall none recall? 



For all shall be forgotten as the blast 
That smote the tree, or as a shadow cast 

Upon the field— a raven going by. 
The wise man dieth as the fool at last. 



VI. 



Therefore I hated life : Or low or high, 
Nothing but vanity could I descry. 

Grievous is this : Man's time of labor past, 
His works shall perish and his memory die. 



24 rubaiyat of solomon. 

Portion without Labor. 

I. 

I hated all on which my store was spent — 
My palaces, my places of content, — 

Yea, all the books I wrote that men might 
know 
How great was I — of these I did repent. 

11. 

The man that cometh after me will show 
My works for his and on my greatness grow : 
So, with my light his darkness to disguise, 
He reapeth for himself where I did sow. 

HI. 

Therefore I went about with many sighs, 
Desiring to despair! . . A man most wise 

In equity, yet leaveth his estate 
To one who all his labor did despise. 



IV. 



What profit doth the laborer await? 

His days are sorrows and his travail great : 

Even in the night he resteth not, — his eyes 
Beholding still the things he did create. 



rubaiyat of solomon. 2^ 

The Gifts of God. 

I. 

For man is nothing better than to eat 
And drink and make his soul with labor sweet. 
It is God's hand, whereby we walk aright 
That I may feast, no man hath swifter feet! 

II. 

If any man find favor in His sight, 

He giveth wisdom, knowledge and delight : 

Yet to the wicked giveth travail sore, 
And for the sinner's good doth sin requite. 

III. 

This is the sinner's labor evermore : 
To gather and heap up nor spend the store. 
What though the sun ariseth, crowned 
w^ith might? 
His eyes are downward, — how should he adore ! 



26 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

SCROLL IIL 

Times and Seasons. 

I. 

To everything- its season : There shall be 
A time to every purpose and decree; 

A time to live, to die, the Preacher saith ; 
A time to plant and to pluck up the tree. 

IL 

A time to kill and to revive the breath, 

To heal the stricken heart that sorroweth, 

To break down and to build, to suffer pain, 
To weep, to laugh, to mourn because of Death. 

IIL 

A time to dance, to gather in the grain; 
Stones to cast down and stones upon the plain 
To gather up that kings may there abide; 
A season to embrace and to refrain. 



IV. 



A time to get, to keep, to cast aside, 

To rend the robe, to sew, to walk in pride. 

To speak and not to speak, to love, to hate, 
To war, to rest in peace well satisfied. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 2/ 

V. 

What profit hath a man in his estate, 
Not knowing who shall enter at his gate, 

Inheriting that which his hands have 
wrought ? 
Howbeit, God giveth man this travail great! 

VI. 

He hath made all things beautiful,— hath 

brought 
Each in his time to grow or come to nought, 
From the beginning even to the end; 
Yet none have found Him out of all who 

sought. 

vn. 

There is no good I know but to depend 
On labor, to rejoice and to befriend 

The poor, the sick, the widow in distress, 
Do good and eat and drink and none offend. 

VHI. 

It is the gift of God wherewith to bless 
Them that fear Him and walk in uprightness. 
His work shall be forever : nothing more 
Can any put thereto, nor make it less. 



28 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

IX. 

That which hath been, is now: Shall men im- 
plore 

The dead to rise, whom they to burial bore? 
Or plead with Death that he should make 
redress ? 

God doth require the past and all restore. 

Equity in Judgment. 

I. 

Under the sun I saw the Judgment-place : 
There wickedness had lifted up his face; 

Yea, in the place where righteousness 
should dwell 
The judges did iniquity embrace. 

II. 

Then said I in my heart : God judgeth well 
The good that fear, the wicked that rebel ; 

The time for every purpose He doth 
know, — 
Who lack in wisdom, who therein excel. 

III. 

God might manifest to all below 
How poor is man's estate! Instructed so 
And having knowledge, they themselves 
might see 
That they are beasts and into darkness go. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 29 

IV. 

Subject to one commandment and decree, 
Even as the beasts that perish man shall be : 
That which befalleth them doth him be- 
fall : 
All have one breath and in their death agree. 



V. 



All are of dust, to dust return they all : 
They go unto one place, beyond recall. 

So that a man hath no pre-eminence 
Over the ox that dieth in the stall. 



VI. 



The spirit of a man hath excellence : 

It goeth upward to the place from whence 

It came: and shall he not rejoice herein? 
The spirit of a beast goeth not hence. 

VII. 

Then I perceived that nothing good hath been 
Save to be glad and keep himself from sin. 
Neither let man to knowledge make pre- 
tence, 
But joy in labor for his portion win. 



30 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

SCROLL IV. 
Oppressors. 

L 

When to my meditations I returned, 
Under the sun oppressions I discerned. 

Behold the tears of such as are oppressed ! 
To comfort them my heart within me burned. 

IL 

Oppressors in authority were dressed : 
Therefore I praised the dead which are at rest 
More than the Hving which are yet ahve. 
Better, who hath not Hved, nor evil guessed! 

in. 

Then I considered all for which men strive: 
Lo, they that thrive not envy them that thrive. 
The fool in idleness his hands will fold, 
Eat his own flesh nor keep himself alive. 

IV. 

Better with quietness a handful hold. 

Than, both hands full, and yet be unconsoled. 

What joy in labor will the rich derive 
Who vex their spirits but to gather gold ? 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 3 1 

The Miser. 

I. 

I saw but vanity under the sun : 

Then I considered further . . . There is one, 

Alone, who hath no second, neither child 
Nor brother, and no labor doth he shun. 

11. 

With heaping riches are his eyes beguiled. 
Whom hath he fed? what neighbor reconciled? 
Neither saith he : This only have I done : 
I have bereaved my soul and am reviled. 



Union in Labor. 
I. 



Two laboring together have reward : 
For if one falleth, fainting on the sward, 
The other lifteth him upon his feet. 
Work without fellowship is work abhorred. 



II. 



If two shall lie together they have heat. 
Yea, two a strong oppressor may defeat : 

Not quickly broken is a three-fold cord ;- 
Therefore is brotherhood in labor sweet. 



32 rubaiyat of solomon. 

The Multitude. 



I. 



A king, grown old will let no man advise 
Better a child from prison, poor and wise. 

One Cometh out of poverty to reign : 
One, born a king, will no .possessions prize. 



11. 



Then I considered all that seek for gain, — 
The second ones that in their stead obtain : 

They come, they go, of men there is no 
end — 
They that have been and they that yet remain. 



III. 



They also that come after, they who rend 
The robe because one dieth, — even his friend 

Who did rejoice in him and praise ordain. 
Shall, with the multitude to death descend ! 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 33 

SCROLL V. 
The Place of Worship. 

L 

Go to the house of God, yet keep thy feet 
From seeking out the most exaUed seat. 

Be thou more ready holy things to hear 
Than to give sacrifice of oil and meat. 

IL 

Fools offer sacrifice and nothing fear, 
Not knowing they are evil. Draw thou near 
To God, but not with hasty utterance: 
He is in Heaven : do thou on earth revere. 

in. 

So let thy words be few: Shall one advance 
By multitude of words? Or, if perchance 
Through multitude of business one shall 
dream, 
Can a fool's prophecy God's word enhance? 

IV. 

Hold not thy vows to God in light esteem : 
If thou defer to pay them thou shalt seem 

Even as the fools in whom no joy He hath. 
That which thou owest pay : thy vows redeem. 



34 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

V. 

Better thou shouldst not vow than suffer scath 
Because of Hes! Let truth attend thy path. 

Forbid thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin 
Lest God destroy thy hbors in His wrath. 

VL 

Lo, dreams and divers vanities have been! 
But think not thou thy flesh from death to win. 
All are cut down as weeds in time of 
math. 
Fear God : be clean without and clean within. 



God's Omniscience. 

I. 

When to oppress the poor the proud agree, 
And in a province wicked judges be — 

Perverting judgment, overthrowing right 
With violence, be certain God doth see. 

IL 

Higher than they His ministers of light, 
Who in His courts the griefs of men recite, 
Yea, higher than the highest one is He 
Who overlooketh judgment day and night! 



rubaiyat of solomon. 35 

Wealth and Poverty. 

I. 

The earth for every man doth profit yield, 
The king himself is served by the field. 

Who loveth silver is not satisfied 
With silver, though he hath great store con- 
cealed. 

11. 

He that abundance loveth, having tried 
Earth's luxuries nor been of aught denied, 

Desireth more and cannot be at peace 
Till all be spent and poverty abide. 

III. 

And if, by any chance, men's goods increase 
They are increased that eat them: What re- 
lease 
Have they from toil? What pleasure do 
they gain 
Save the beholding ? How shall sorrow cease ? 

IV. 

Whether the laboring man eat or refrain 

His sleep is sweet : but they who have domain 

Sleep not. Behold, this is an evil sore 
That any, to their hurt, should wealth retain! 



^6 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

V. 

Riches kept for their owners are no more 
Than hurt to him who gathered in the store. 

His son is born with nothing in his hand, 
Because of evil travail gone before. 

VI. 

Naked he came for whom the swaddling band 
Was ready, — naked still, at Earth's demand, 
Shall he return and carry nought away. 
This also, is an evil in the land. 

VIL 

He, that hath labored for the wind, will stay 
No longer than the wind. Lo, every day — 
While sorrow, sickness, wrath he must 
withstand, — 
He eateth bread in darkness and dismay! 



Happiness. 
I. 



Behold, this have I seen and understood ! 
For one to eat and drink and take the good 

Of all his labor, this is man's estate. 
Yea, and to dwell with men in brotherhood. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 2)7 

II. 

God giveth each his portion soon or late: 
If one have wealth and riches without rate, 

So let him eat and drink even as he should : 
Remembering little, for his joy is great. 



38 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

SCROLL VL 

Possessions not Enjoyed. 

L 

Under the sun an evil I have found : 
One man for wealth and honor is renowned, — 
All that his soul desired he hath achieved : 
Yet are his days and nights with sorrow 
crowned. 

IL 

He perisheth — his hunger unrelieved; 
A stranger eateth what his hands received. 
Evil is this disease: that one abound 
Whom of his power to eat God hath bereaved. 



Life without Honor. 

L 

If any man not good shall live on earth 
And, after, have no burial — wanting worth. 
Though he an hundred children should be- 
get 
Better than he is an untimely birth. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 39 

11. 

He Cometh in with vanities beset. 
Under the sun walketh in darkness yet, 

Laboreth not, delighteth not in mirth, 
Departeth and his name all men forget. 



One Place for All. 

I. 

Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, 
A fool will never any good behold ! 

Do not all men go to one place at last, 
As sheep that shepherds drive into the fold? 

II. 

To labor for the mouth and yet to fast, 
Knowledge to win, yet no event forecast, 

Even so it is with all. The poor and old 
Who nothing have, in nothing are surpassed. 



Walking by Desire. 

I. 

Better are seeing eyes than wandering feet. 
Men, walking by desire, vexation meet. 

Is not man known? Can he his Maker 
cheat. 
Or yet contend before the judgment seat? 



40 rubaiyat of solomon. 

Evil and Good. 

I. 

Seeing that things do vanity increase 
And till his death no man may find release, 
In what is he the better ? Let him eat, 
Enjoy his portion and abide in peace! 

11. 

Who knoweth what for man is good and meet 
All his vain days, — the bitter or the sweet? 
What shall be after him when life shall 
cease — 
Spent as a shadow^ in the time of heat ? 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 4^ 

SCROLL VIL 

A Good Name. 

L 

Better than precious ointment a good name ; ^ 
More sweet than spikenard is a just man's 
fame. 
Glad was the day in which the man-child 

came; 
More glad the day of death, if without shame. 

Wisdom in Sorrow. 

I. 

Better is grief than feasting : Go thy way 
Unto the house of mourning,— there survey 
The end of all mankind : for it is well 
The living to his heart this truth should lay. 

IL 

Sorrow excelleth laughter : None may tell 
What hour he also with the dead must dwell. 

By sadness of the countenance, the heart 
Is turned to God that did from Him rebel. 



42 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON". 

III. 

The wise man chooseth still the better part, 
But if, within the house of mirth, thou art 

Among the fools, better than song shall be 
The wise rebuke that woundeth as a dart. 

IV. 

As crackling thorns, under the pot, set free 
Their sparks that straightway into darkness 
flee, 
Even so the laughter of the fool doth start ; 
And all his works with vanity agree. 



Patience under Oppression. 

I. 

Oppression maketh mad. Who shall with- 
stand 

By wisdom the despoilers of the land ? 

Lo, gifts destroy the heart! Wouldst 
thou befriend? 

With recompense of labor fill the hand. 

XL 

Than the beginning better is the end. 
Better to bear with patience than contend ; — 

To stoop and toil beneath the weary load. 
Than, proud in spirit, scorn the neck to bend. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 43 

III. 

Let not the evil deed to anger goad : 

In the fool's bosom seeds of anger sowed 

Bear thorns for harvest. Be thou wise in 
wrath 
Lest God destroy thee from His high abode. 



IV. 



Say not: Behold the world great sorrow hath 

Which was not so before ! Men suffered scath 

Aforetime even as now : Lighten their 

load ; — 

For them and for thyself make smooth the 

path. 



Wisdom a Defence. 



I. 



Wisdom is good with an inheritance 
For by it there is profit, if perchance 

Men see the sun, nor blindly make pre- 
tence. 
How shall they miss the way who so advance ? 



44 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

11. 

Wisdom is a defence and a defence 
Is money, being gained with innocence. 

But wisdom giveth life and maketh great. 
Therefore is knowledge full of excellence. 

III. 

The work of God consider; Lo, thy fate 

Is in His keeping! Who can make that 

straight 
Which He hath crooked made, or aught 

destroy 
Before His time for making desolate. 



IV. 



Be thy prosperity a time of joy: 
But if adversity thy thoughts employ, 

Consider: God hath knowledge when to 
bless : 
Nor will the gold endure without alloy. 



There is that perisheth in righteousness. 
There is that liveth long and doth oppress. 

Be thou not wise nor righteous overmuch. 
Lest thou destroy thyself and nought possess. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 45 

VI. 

Nor overmuch be wicked. See thou clutch 
No neighbors' goods ; nor with thy finger touch 
Things that defile, even as the foolish 
would : — 
Before their time to die sin slayeth such. 

VII. 

Thou shouldst take hold of this, for it is good. 
Fear God and hve with all in friendlihood. 
Yea, also, not from this withdraw thine 
hand : — 
They shall come forth who evil have withstood. 

VIII. 

Strengthened with wisdom a wise man shall 

stand 
Against ten chosen men — a mighty band 

From out the city. Though a man be just 
He cannot say : No evil have I planned : 



IX. 



For all do sin and in their folly trust . . . 
Hear not the words that curse thee lest thou 

must 
One of thy very servants reprimand, — 
Through whom thy curses were as arrows 

thrust. 



46 rubaiyat of solomon. 

Searching for Wisdom. 



I. 



This have I proved by wisdom. Though I 

said: 
I will be wise, yet wisdom from me fled. 

Lo, that which is far off, exceeding deep, 
Who can find out and bring to light instead ! 



11. 



As one who seeking wisdom, cannot sleep 

I did from sloth my nights and mornings 

keep : 
That I the reason of all things might 

know, — 
Why men in folly sow, in madness reap? 



III. 



Than death more bitter that enticing foe 
Whose heart is snares and nets; who reacheth 

so 
Her hands, as bands they girdle men 

around. 
As for that woman's house, therein is woe! 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 47 

IV. 

Who pleaseth God escapeth: They abound 
Whom she hath snared. Behold, this have I 
found : 
Among a thousand counting one by one, 
One man of grace, for purity renowned! 



Among a thousand women found I none. 
My soul found only this when all was done : 
God made men upright, — yea, with beauty 
crowned ! 
But after strange inventions they have run. 



48 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

SCROLL VIIL 
The King. 

I. 

Who as the wise man, by considering, 
Can give interpretation to a thing? 

Wisdom will make the countenance to 
shine 
Change his bold face, — thereto all meekness 
bring. 

IL 

The oath of God regarding, be it thine 
To keep the king's commandment nor incline 
To hasten from his sight. Stand thou not 
in 
With evil men when they his hurt design. 

IIL 

He doeth what he pleaseth and wherein 

He hath transgressed who may rebuke the sin 

Or any punishment to him assign ? 
The wise discern when judgment should begin. 



rubaiyat of solomon. 49 

Sentence Delayed. 

I. 

Because to every purpose time is set 
And till his season judgment halteth yet, 

Therefore the misery of man is great. 
For lack of knowledge doth despair beget. 



11. 



No man hath power to bid the spirit wait 
Till he shall death desire : nor with debate 

Arrest the falling sword. And in that war 
Is no discharge, — all share the self-same fate. 



III. 



Neither shall wickedness deliver nor 
The fear of God. Builder and counsellor 

Shall perish with whatever is begun, — 
The laborer and that he labored for. 



IV. 



When I applied my heart, that which was Hone 
I saw : yea, every work beneath the sun. 

If one will rule, cometh a season when 
He ruleth to his hurt, beloved of none. 



50 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

V. 

The wicked who had come and gone again 
From where the place was holy, saw I then 
Buried, forgotten where they so had 
wrought, — 
Their strength put by that was the strength 
of ten. 

VI. 

Because a sentence rendered is not brought 
To speedy execution, seeming nought, 
Set to do evil are the sons of men : 
And innocence is sold and judgment bought. 



Judgment Mis-applied. 

I. 

ThougH one do evil many times nor cease 
From doing evil and his days increase, 

It shall be well with them, I surely know 
That fear the face of God who giveth peace. 

II. 

But with the wicked it shall not be so. 
Who fear not God nor yet in wisdom grow : 
Neither shall man himself his days pro- 
long. 
That as a moving shadow come and go. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 5! 

III. 

This is a vanity : Amidst the throng 
There be just men who will not compass 
wrong. 
It happeneth to these whom none condemn 
As they were wicked men — oppressors strong. 

IV. 

Again there be who dip the garment's hem 
In guiltless blood nor any evil stem : 

As they were righteous even from their 
birth, 
Honored they dwell within the tents of Shem. 

V. 

Then I perceived the beauty and the worth 
That shall abide : Men have upon the earth 
No better thing than this, God giveth 
them — 
To eat and drink ! And I commxCnded mirth. 



The Work of God. 

I. 

When I applied mine heart to know aright 
(For there is One that neither day nor night 



52 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Hath rest, nor seeth slumber with his 
eyes), 
The work of God w'as hidden from my sight. 

11. 

For whether He doth bid the mountains rise 
Or bringeth clouds or maketh broad the skies 
Or spreadeth out the sea or givetH light, 
It is His work : therein is no man wise. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 53 

SCROLL IX. 

Life and Death. 

I. 

For I considered : There is no man great : 
Righteous and wise, the works their hands 
create 
Are in the hand of God. What shall be- 
fall— 
Perceiving not — they cannot love nor hate. 

IL 

For one event coming alike to all, 
To righteous and to wicked, great and small. 
Clean and unclean, — them that bring sac- 
rifice 
And them that lead no ox from out the stall. 

IIL 

To them that swear and swear not, that en- 
tice 

The hearts of men to evil with a price. 

Madness is theirs : at last they, stumbling, 
fall 

Among the dead, with whom is no device. 



54 rubaiyat of solomon. 

The End of All. 

I. 

For there is hope of one who liveth yet : 
A hving dog, should any foe beset, 

Is better than a hon that is dead. 
How should that carcass any fear beget? 

11. 

The living know the measure of the bed 
Where they shall lie, but they that sleep in- 
stead 
Can know not anvthino- nor have reward. 
They are forgotten as the worm they fed. 

III. 

Also shall they whose hearts w^ere in accord 
And they who hated, lie beneath the sward, 
One in corruption, to corruption wed. 
None to another saith : My kingf and lord I 



Joy in Life. 
I. 



Yet go thy v/ay and eat thy bread with joy. 
Yea, drink thy wine with merriment; employ 
Thine hands in service, at thy lord's be- 
hest. 
God will accept thy w^orks nor thee destroy. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 55 

11. 

White as the snows of Hermon be thy vest; 
Let not thy head lack ointment of the best. 

Live joyfully with her, thy chosen wife :— 
Thy labor shall be sweet and sweet thy rest. 

in. 

Better than sw^ord or sacrificial knife, 
The tools of labor,— neither stirring strife, 
Nor causing grief nor giving babes af- 
fright. 
War not and be thy fields with plenty rife. 

IV. 

And since thou knowest not when death shall 

smite, 
Do what thou hast to do wath all thy might : 
For in the grave is neither hope nor life 
Nor work nor understanding nor delight. 

Time and Chance. 

I. 

Then I returned and saw^ under the sun 
Not to the swift, what time the race is run, 



56 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

But to the steadfast — toiling span by 
span : 
Nor to the strong the battle that is won. 



11. 



The wise lack bread; riches forsake the man 
Of perfect understanding: Neither can 

The skillful one get favor in his need. 
All happeneth by chance, — there is no plan! 



III. 



Man knoweth not his time nor giveth heed. 
As fishes that are taken wdiere they feed 

In evil nets, as birds where fowlers ran 
To set the snare, — so men whom follies lead. 



The Rew^\rd of Wisdom. 

I. 

This wisdom have I seen that seemetH great: 
There was a little city; to its gate 

A great king came w^ho did encamp there- 
by, 
Determining to make it desolate. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 5/ 

11. 

Therefore, besieged with bulwarks great and 

high, 
The few therein might not that host defy. 
Now did one, poor and wise, deUverance 
plan, 
And saved the city, — nor did any die. 

III. 

While they rejoiced their wine as water ran, 
Howbeit none remembered that same man! 

Humble and poor, in misery he died. 
Yet he is wise who doeth what he can. 



IV. 



Then said I : Only wisdom shall abide ; 
Strength is to age and feebleness allied : 

Not less the poor man's wisdom men de- 
spise. 
And, without listening, his words deride. 

V. 

In quiet heard, the sayings of the wise 
Are more than his who ruleth men with cries 
And shoutings from the palace-porches 
wide, — 
Destroying good and slaying men with lies. 



58 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

SCROLL X. 
The Wisdom of Discretion. 



Dead flies will make the precious ointment 

stink. 
So one of whom no man doth evil think, 

Will for a little folly honor sell, 
And mix with bitter herbs his daily drink. 



IL 



A wise man's heart guardeth his right hand 

well. 
The evil heart that prompteth to rebel 

At the left hand will guide the fool astray, 
Who, that he is a fool, to all will tell. 



in. 

And if the ruler whom thou shouldst obey 
In spirit rise against thee, see thou stay; 

For yielding pacifieth all offence: 
Nor do thou to his charge thy folly lay. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 59 

IV. 

Yet evil Have I seen proceeding thence : 
Folly is set in dignity from whence 

The rich are thrust ; servants on horses sit 
And princes walk, nor any gifts dispense. 

V. 

He that for other men doth dig a pit, 
Shall, as a stumbling ox fall into it. 

Whoso doth break a hedge, him serpents 
bite: 
Nor shall the Judge his punishment remit. 

VI. 

W-hoso removeth landmarks from the sight, 
With his own field his neighbors to unite. 

Shall suffer hurt thereby; one cleaving 
wood 
Shall be endangered : set thine axe aright. 

VII. 

And if he whet not iron as he should 
Then must he put more strength to make it 
good. 
Wisdom is profitable to direct, — 
Against the sharpened axe no tree hath stood. 



6o RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

- VIII. 

Surely unless enchantment take efifect . 
Serpents will bite, nor any man respect : 

So is the babbler when he babbleth lies : 
None may from slanderers himself protect. 



IX. 



Gracious the mouth of him whose words are 
wise : 

One, knowing nought, much evil may sur- 
mise ; 

A fool himself will swallow with his lips, 

That so his foolishness he may disguise. 



X. 



Even as one who in the darkness trips. 
Mischievous madness doth his mind eclipse 

And also he is full of words, — a man 
Can nothing find, who in that water dips. 



XL 



\Miat shall be after him whose life began 
hi folly, and who laboreth as he can, 

Wearying all : on every path he slips,- 
Which way to go he hath no wit to plan. 



rubaiyat of solomon. 6l 

Government. 

I. 

Woe unto thee, O lapxd, when for thy king 
Thou hast a child! Then will thy princes 
cling 
As leeches, and the law of God trans- 
gress — 
Eating all night : It is an evil thing. 



II. 



Blessed art thou, O land, whose long distress 
Thy king, a son of nobles, doth redress : 

Thy princes, in due season banqueting, 
Shall eat for strength and not for drunkenness. 



Neglect. 



I. 



Though thou build greatly, so that all men say 
*Tt is a palace: here the princes stay," 

Yet afterw^ard be slothful, day by day 
It droppeth through and all its beams decay. 



62 rubaiyat of solomon. 

Feasting. 

I. 

A feast is made for laughter; yea, and wine 
Increaseth merriment. Thy guests assign 

Each to his place ; and if the cost be thine, 
Money will answer all. Eat nor repine. 



The Wisdom of Secrecy. 

I. 

Not even in thy thought curse thou the king, 
Nor in thy chamber whisper anything 

Against the rich man : lest a bird take 
wing 
Carry thy voice and all the matter sing. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 63 

SCROLL XL 
Charities. 



Cast bread upon the waters, go thy ways 
And thou shalt find it after many days. 

With seven, with eight divide, lest God 

decree 
A time when thou shah faint, with none to 

raise. 



11. 



If clouds be full of rain, they as a sea 
Empty themselves on earth; and if the tree 
Fall to the North or South, in that same 
spot 
Whereon it falleth, there the wood shall be. 



IIL 



He that the wind observeth, soweth not. 
He that regardeth clouds the winds begot 

On high, shall reap not that which hath 
been sown. 
Can man their purpose and their path allot ? 



64 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

IV. 

What is the spirit's way thou hast not known : 
Nor how, one being with child, the bones are 

grown 
Within the womb. With God alone is 

power, — 
Howbeit His works to thee He hath not shown. 



V. 



Sow in the morning, in the evening hour 
Thine hand withhold not: Cometh heat or 

shower, 
Yet here or there the harvest shall be 

mown. 
Thou knowest not whether this or that will 

flower. 



Light and Darkness. 



I. 



Truly the light is sweet. When night is done, 
It is a pleasant thing to see the sun. 

Live many years, rejoice in all : But none 
Shall count thy days of darkness, one by one ! 



rubaiyat of solomon. 65 

Judgment to Come. 

I. 

Rejoice, O young man in thy youthful days, 
Let thy heart cheer thee, — still on folly gaze: 

Walk in the vision of thine eyes and be 
Content with vanity and foolish praise. 

II. 

But know, for all these things God judgeth 

thee : 
Therefore put sorrow from thine heart and see 

The evil of thy flesh. Be all thy ways, 
For them that follow, from the pitfalls free. 



66 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

SCROLL XIL 

The Spirit. 

L 

In youth remember thy Creator now 
While evil days come not nor sayest thou : 

I have no pleasure in them : Neither sigh : 
What good remaineth? God hath stripped the 
bough. 

IL 

Or ever yet the evil years draw nigh, 
Or sun or light or moon within the sky 

Be darkened not, nor clouds return again 
After the rain, what time the clouds went by. 

IIL 

The keepers of the house shall tfemble when 
The day approacheth and the mighty men 

Shall bow themselves; then shall the 
grinders cease : 
Those at the window shall be darkened then. 



IV. 



Doors shall be shut and in the streets be peace : 
None at the grinding shall the meal increase : 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 6/ 

He shall rise up when the bird's voice 
doth call, — 
From that commandment shall be no release. 



V. 



They that love music — yea, her daughters 

all!— 
Shall be brought low ; and also they that fall 
Along the way, afraid of what is high. 
Fears shall confront and dangers shall appall. 

VI. 

The almond tree shall flourish nor deny 
Its bitter fruit. The grasshopper shall lie 

A burden on the breast ; desire shall fail : 
Yet he perceiveth not that he must die. 

VII. 

Because a man, stricken in years and frail 
Goeth to his long home, the mourners wail 
About the streets and none with them con- 
dole. 
Against that foe what weapon shall prevail ? 

VIII. 

That which is broken cannot be made whole. 
Turn thou or ever God require thy soul. 



68 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Or loose the silver cord that bindeth fast 
Spirit with flesh, or break the golden bowl. 



IX. 



The broken pitcher by the fountain cast, 
The wheel beside the cistern : At the last 

Dust shall return to earth, — thou to thy 
goal. 
God gave to thee a spirit, — this thou hast. 



The Preacher. 



Behold the vanity of vanities — 
The folly and the sum of secresies ! 

For all is vanity, the Preacher saith : 
Moreover he was wise in mysteries. 

11. 

That he might solace one wdio laboreth 
All day and in the evening sorroweth, 

The people — yea, the poor! — he sought to 
teach. 
Counsel is sweet and knowledge comforteth. 



RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 69 

III. 

Them to refrain from sin he did beseech. 
With words acceptable, their hearts to reach, 
He set in order proverbs old and new — 
That they should render justice each to each. 

IV. 

Wise words as goads with valor men imbue : 
They are as nails, fastened when builders hew. 

That, by the master of assemblies thrust, 
(Given from one shepherd!) keep the timbers 
true. 

V. 

My son, be thou admonished : Folly must 
Be taught of wisdom : — Be thy sayings just. 
Of making many books there is no end. 
Study is weariness, — for flesh is dust. 

VI. 

Hear the conclusion of the matter: Spend 
Thy days with God; He only doth befriend. 

Men to that Judge must every secret trust, 
Whether the work be worthy or offend. 



DELIVERANCE. "Jl 



DELIVERANCE. 



Prefatory: Addressed to Francis F. Browne, Editor 
The Dial; Poet, Critic and Friend. 



Stramge zveeds the ocean-paths redeem 
Me-seems of Summer flowers they dream, 
And tremble zviih desire to share 
That glory of tlie orchids fair 
That have no bitterness to dree. 
They are as poems yet to be, 
Whose haunts may none but poets guess. 

Or if, on sandy reaches bare, 
Futile and frail and blossomlcss. 

Washed clean of salt, the red they wear 
By any wonderful decree — 
As fountain naiades, possess 
A faint, elusive loveliness — 
Not one shall with the rose compare! 



II. 

Belike, where never billows szvell. 
With monsters of the deep they dwell. 
Glimmer in phosphorescent light, 
Nor know of stars and spaces white. 

Yet, by some whirlwind, black of blee, 
Whose mighty arms take up the sea. 
Mayhap they shall be lifted high. 

For great deliverance none too slight, — 
Borne through the all-embracing sky 
Where rush the raptured spirits bright 
That out from battle-trenches flee, — 
Cast down, in golden light to lie. 
Dimly to dream and sweetly die 
And be, as poems, lost to sight! 



FROM A FAR CONTREE. 73 

FROM A FAR CONTRfiE. 

He lighted^ and louted^ and bent his knee 
But never his visor uphfted he : 
''Sweet Ladye — too sweet for a mortal to be — 
So please you, mount blithely and ride with 
me." 

They paced where the knights held the tourney 

great, 
(The swords in their hands were a leaden 

weight!) ; 
They rode till they rode through the postern 

gate : 
None saw them returning or soon or late. 

Said one : *'He came out from a far contree 
*'A lordlier Presence may no man see." 
One vowed him a king : But they all agree 
That never his visor uplifted he. 

And will she abide where the salt seas beat? 
Sit high on a throne when the proud lords 

meet? 
Ride merrily forth on a palfrey fleet? — 
Ah, waly^ and w^oe for the Ladye sweet! 

[Princess Charlotte: Heir to British crown: 
1796-1817,-] 



^ Alighted. "* Bowed. ^ Alas, 



74 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 



THE LADY GWYNETH. 

A Romance of Midland England. Four- 
teenth Century. Dialect preserved: Spelling 
mostly modernized. 

Part I. 

Was never one of mortal mold, 

Withouten guile, save Mary's son. 

Knight Eardwulf slew Earl Athelwold 
Who had his lady's favor v^on. 



Was never sinner woman-born, 
That did not woeful penaunce dree: 

Between the middle night and morn 
A grimly dwarf did Eardwulf see. 



A sullen goblin \\M and wight, 

With mantel red and gleaming mail 

I trow it was his wone to fight 

And cause the sons of men to quail ! 



"Rise up, rise up fromward thy bed, ^ 

Rise up straight-forth and come with me; 

For thou shalt be my thrall," he said, 
*'A thousand fathom under sea. 



THE LADY GWYNETH. 75 

"Before the forge there shalt thou swink, 
To shape the sword for treacherous deed, 

The tears shall salt thy draffy drink 
And thou on horrid flesh shalt feed." 

''How gat ye leave my soul to slay 

And drag me down with fiends to den?" 

"Oh, thou hast long forborne to pray 
Or honor him who died for men! 

"Thou are pollute with brother's death : 
Ne didst thou keep thy marriage-oath, 

For thou wert false to fair Gwyneth 
Or ever she had broken troth." 

Uprose Knight Eardwulf from his rest, 
In gloomy cote himself he dight, 

Ne not with baldrick dipt his breast, 
But gat him, groaning, with the spright. 

It was not horse whilk they bestrode, 
It was no beast of flesh and bone : 

Withouten whip or spur he yode. 

He neighed as he were Satan's own. 

A demon-creature shod with flame. 
He strak the flint as he were wode : 

A fire from out his nostrils came. 

As coals his burning eyeballs glowed. 



76 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Most like the rolled thunder-wain 
That pounding of his mighty feet. 

As one thrust through with mortal pain, 
So did Knight Eardwulf loudly greit. 

''O Mother Mary, virgin w^hite, 

Gif thou art queen of earth and sky, 

Save thou my soul, defoulen quite. 
Ere cursed place it cometh nigh!" 

Nathless did none that creature let : 

Eftsoons earth shook and yawmed wide. 

Together all his hooves he set 

And through the sliftered hill gan slide. 

Oh, dreary, dreary was the way 
Dowai to the goblin's prison-pen ! 

Well deep and steep it went astray, 
All slippy with the blood of men ! 

And dolesome, dolesome was the din 
Up-roaring from the pit foreby : — 

I wis, all men had feared sin 

To hear yon earthling clepe and cry! 

Oh, he hath left the flowery haunt, 

The fresh, green herb, the silvern strand, 

And he must herd with demons gaunt 
That hurl the scathly levin-brand ! 



THE LADY GWYNETH. 77 

And he with girning elf must carp, 
Full oft the hell-born creatures feed; 

And he must forge the weapons sharp 
That maken goodly knights to bleed! 

*'Ye wilsome spright, now tellen true 
Gif long I tarry here and yearn !" 

"Oh, thou shalt bide till welkin blue 
With sun at middle-night shall burn ! 

''And thou shalt bide till grisly Death 

Is starven in his castle-keep; 
And thou shalt bide till false Gwyneth 

Shall come and on thy bosom weep ! 

"And thou shalt bide till Athelwold 
Hath won meek maiden Mary's smile, 

Hath gotten armor all of gold 

And kissed the man withouten guile!" 



Part n. 



Oh, sweet the holy chaunterie 
Where masses oft bin said, 

And sweet the breath of Charitee 
Out-praying for the dead! 



yS RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Full sweet when service-bells do ring 
The voice of monk and nonne : 

**Kyrie Eleyson!" so they sing: 
*'Have mercy, Mary's son!" 

And veray sweet the love, I weet, 

Our lady hath for all: 
But Jhesu's love is honey-sweet, 

That saveth great and small ! 

Hath dured a year, a weary year, 
A twelf -month and a day, 

Syn Athelwold, with sundered spear 
For-cleft in combat lay. 

Syn low he slept in dim chapelle, 

Most pityful to see ! 
Ne heard the noise of clanging bell 

Wherefrom the devils flee. 

His weapons good beside him put, 
Disturbled nought his rest, — 

The fire and earth at head and foot. 
The salt upon his breast. 

About his froren body stood 
The waxen candles white: 

AVhile monks upheld the holy rood 
And prayed from morn till night. 



THE LADY GWYNETH. 79 

Ah, knight so brave, to He in grave, 

Unhouseled, slain in ire! 
Ah, save him, Christ, who died to save! — 

How must he feel the fire ! 



A bitter year, a rueful year, 

Gwyneth, on bended knee. 
Hath called on Mary-mother, dear, 

Whose prayers mote set him free. 

Each morn her flesh the scourge hath felt 

And she hath fasted oft, — 
For penaunce worn the thorny belt 

To hurt her body soft. 

Gif haply she aggrace might win, 

Hath slept on jagged scree : 
Now she is cleansed of her sin 

And houseled worthilee. 

Upon the cross where Jhesu hung 

Oh, she hath sworen well. 
To wake this night the dead among, 

All in the lone chapelle ! 

And she will pray for Athelwold 

Asleep beneath the stone. 
And she will pray for Eardwulf bold 

Wherver he may wone. 



8o RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Deep in the middle of the night — 
Was neither moon ne star : 

Gan shine a great and dredely hght — 
High up it was and far. 

As though a-thwart the welkin wude 
God's hand a sun had whirled, 

So did that selcouth dawn abide, — 
It raught from sky to world. 

Rolled off the carven stone that lay 
Full long on knightly breast ! 

As he had slept but yesterday, 
Rose up the dead from rest. 

Stood up from stead of shrouded bed 

The ghostly Athelwold : 
"Laud be to Mary's son!" he said, 

''That is so sweet and bold ! 

"Within my breast a living breath 
He brealhyd soft and deep : — 

Stark-starven lyeth grisly Death 
All in his castle-keep! 

"Long in the furnace did I burn. 
Long time in anguish greit, 

For that I wedded wyf did turn 
With counsail evil-sweet. 



THE LADY GWYNETH. 8 1 

"Algates I heard amid the din 

From gobhn-land foreby, 
Where they must wrawle that nursle sin, 

Knight Eardwulf weep and cry. 

"And now he prayed to Mary maid 

And now did long for death, 
And now — sore-shent with demon-blade 

He namyd fair Gwyneth. 

"This hour was stalwart angel sent, 
And he was blithe and grand, — 

Me out of hellish trap he hent, 
And griff of devil's hand. 

"O lady, thou hast gotten grace ! 

Rise up from bended knee; 
Go thou, and seek that wretched place — • 

Deep-delven under sea. 

"Lead up that poor, mis-happy knight, — 

Him cheer with wyvely kiss. 
Gif he with wrothful elf must fight, 

I shame to bide in bliss?" 



Oh, holy-sweet the chaunterie 
Where oft the mass is said, 

And sweet the heart of Charitee — 
That beateth for the dead ! 



82 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Full sweet to hear at dawn of day 
The voice of monk and nonne : 

"Christe Eleyson?" do they say: 
**Thou crucified one!" 

And sweet the love that bendeth knee 

Above the buried breast: 
But they, that for the living dree, 

Sweet Jhesu loveth best. 



Part III. 



So ugsome bin the fiends of night, 

So terryble and swart of blee, 
They haten sight of hallowed light, 

From sound of blessed bell they flee. 

Yet in their Dismal, w^ell I ween 
Is One whose love can never sleep. 

Gif He should make them fair and clean, 
For joy the savyd souls would leap. 

The lady girdeth for the quest ; 

Claspeth the beads Knight Eardwulf gave; 
Hideth the rose within her breast 

He gatheryd from a martyr's grave. 



THE LADY GWYNETH. 83 

She steppeth out, she peereth far : — 
It is a fearsome night and black: 

Beholdeth neither moon ne star, 

Ne fire of marsh ne glow-worm track. 

She turneth South, she turneth West, 
She turneth to the North Contree : 

Across some hidden mountain's breast 
A blood-red road she gins to see. 

Good sooth their courage must not fail, 
Who follow Mary's dearworth son! 

I wis it is some devil's trail, — 
Yet will the lady w^alk thereon! 

Alas, she listeth harrying feet 
Of wolves on wold and wastorel! 

Loud scritcheth many a demon fleet 
That hath his wonning deep in hell. 

Across the sky a wand doth roar ; 

Ne in its bed will ocean keep : 
A frightsome wave doth burst a-shore 

And over heath and hillock sweep. 

Against her heart the waters beat, — 

The lady suppeth bitter brine; 
From out the lift a spiteful sleet, 

Fell-cruel, stingeth face and eyne. 



84 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Nathless she telleth rosarie, 

Her precious rose she guardeth well : 

Brave as Samt Winifred is she, 

Whom neither prince ne sword might quell. 

Thrice-blessed Jhesu heareth prayer : 

The Eagre rolleth back a-pace; 
Bloweth a soft and gentle air 

As she were in some flowerie place. 

Oh, sikerly, the far chapelle, 

With blissful wights is thronged full! 

Loud, loud doth ring the beaten bell 
With never mortal nigh to pull! 

Me-seemeth Mary, throned a-height. 
Her contrite daughter loveth well : — 

Agasted flee the fiends of night; 
They enter at the doors of hell. 

Fore-nenst that rift bin set the cross: 
Black, black the doors a-low that lead! 

Who follow there must tholen loss; 
I wis, of many wounds they bleed ! 

Soothly Gwyneth hath gotten grace! 

She entereth in where demons strive : 
They hurl them over head-long place. 

No villainie they durst contrive. 



THE LADY GWYNETH. 85 

Abhorreth she to wander down 

From happy hearth and castle-tower, 

From holy shryne and busy town, 

From meadow green and bird in bower. 

Up-cometh many a noise of dread :— r- 
Within the cloven mountain pent, 

Her heart is heavy as the lead, 

Sharp rocks her tender flesh have rent. 

Her belt of thorn hath fallen free ; 

The rose is from her bosom caught ; 
Gone is her blessed rosarie — 

Each bead of holy olive wrought. 

Weepeth the ladye: ''Gif to-night 
''I perish here in derneful stead, 

Knight Eardwulf, toren from delight 

Must bide till trump shall wake the dead!" 

Deep-groaneth she and maketh moan : 
''Thou Holy Ghost whom all do fear — 

Disdaining not in Hell to wone — 

Help me to save mine husband dear!" 

Beameth a glory overhead 

Her steep and perilous path to show : 
Uneath a ruddy light doth spread 

From where the roaring forges glow. 



86 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Oh, she hath crossed that brig- o' sand 
That spanneth Satan's pitchy lake, 

And she hath won to gobHn-land, 
Ne will, for all its horrors quake ! — 

Hath passed where loathly beasts abound 
(On spilth they feed of battle bold!) 

And that unseely knight hath found 
That slew the gentle Athelwold ! 

With many tears him kisseth she, 

She holdeth fast his grimy hand : 
*'0 husband, thou must come with me 

To smell the flowers of Engle-land! 

"Thou shalt be fed on wastel-bread — 
Ne drink wroth-hail with cursed spright. 

That precious blood, on Calvary shed, 
Will flow a-f resh to wash thee white !'* 

Quoth wicked goblin, dour and grim : 

''Though Mary's self should deave mine ear. 

Or ever she should loosen him, 

His heart should feel the stithied spear ! 

"Forth get thee up to Christen strand ! 

But gif thou shrink the coals to tread, 
Or gif thou sink through brig o' sand, 

Thou'rt mine till trump doth start the dead !" 



THE LADY GWYNETH. 8/ 

*'0 Dwarfie, smeared with the rud! 

I gess, before ye ravyned here, 
Ye well were drunken on the blood 

That did not spill from wolf or deer. 

''I rede ye seek the pitying One! 

Mayhap, full riche in goodly-head, 
He pardoneth even elves for-done, 

Gif they repent their murders red : — 

"Sithence they too are fallen men, 
And He is still their loving Lord. 

But this, mine husband, well I ken 

Mine houseled soul his life shall wardl'* 

Oh, they have crossed the stenchy land, 
Where flaming beasts unquenched lie, 

Have trodden many a hurled brand. 
Nor gotten any hurt thereby! 

About her knight the lady sweet 

Hath lockt her arms lest he should trip, 

And they have crossed, with flying feet. 
That brig where-through the guilty slip! 

But oh, the steep and sliding scarp !— ^ 
Nathless tway thewy hands most white, 

Y'thrust with cruel nails and sharpe, 
Upliftea them from height to height. 



88 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

The whiles a tendre voice they hear: 
"Gif that in sootlifast love ye keep, 

True knight and lady lief and dear. 
In Heaven ye shall my lilies reap!" 

Oh, they have spied the singing bird 
That springeth up at break of day ; 

And they the sweet, sweet bell have heard 
That calleth Christen folk to pray! 

Have seen the smoking censer borne 
Where singers worship Mary's son : — 

*'Christe Eleyson!" still they mourn; 
''Save us, thou crucified one!" 

And they have kneleden hand in hand 
Well savyd from the wrack of hell : 

God keep His herd on everie strand 
From treacherie and murder fell ! 

White, white the doors that upward lead, 
And white bin they that pass thereby; — 

Snow-white the pitying ones that bleed 
Lest any sinful soul should die. 

But who so wonderous white as He 
That wonneth with the demons deep? 

When He hath made them bright of blee 
I trow, for joy, they loud must weep ! 

Withouten ween He loveth all : 

But aye shall faithful man and wife 

With Mary walk in snowy pall, 
With Jhesu break bread of life. 



THE LADY GWYNETH. 89 

GLOSSARY. 
Agasted — Aghast. 
Aggrace — Grace. 
A-height— On high. 
Algates — Always. 
Baldrick — Belt for weapons. 
Bin — Plural or pp. of be singular. 
Blee — Complexion, appearance. 
Brig — Bridge. 

Chaunterie — Chapel for masses. 
Clepe — Call for aid. 
Christe Eleyson— O, Christ, have mercy. 
Dearworth — Most precious. 
Derneful — Solitary, mournful. 
Dight — Dressed. 

Dismal — A noun, signifying hell. 
Disturbled — Disturbed. 
Dour — Unyielding. 
Draffy— Filthy. 
Dredely — Inspiring awe. 
D'ree — To sufifer. 

Eagre or Eygre — A great tidal wave. 
Eftsoons — Quickly. 
Foreby — Very near. 
For-cleft — Cut through. 
For-done — Ruined. 
Fore-nenst — Over against. 
Froren — Cold, frozen. 
Gif— If. 

Girning — Grinning as with a snarl. 
Goodly-head — Goodness and beauty. 
Greit — Weep. 
Griff — Grip, grasp. 
Grimly — Ferocious. 
Grisly — Terrible. 
Harrying — Roaming for prey. 
Hent — Snatched. 

Houseled — Having partaken of the Lord's Supper. 
Kyrie Eleyson — O, Lord, have mercy. 
Let — Hinder. 

Levin-brand — Lightning. 
Lift— Sky. 
Lief— Kindly. 



90 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Nathless — Nevertheless. 

Nursle — Nurse, cherish. 

Pall — A coronation robe. 

Quell— To kill. 

Raught — Reached. 

Rede — Advise. 

Rud — Thick gore, blood. 

Scarp — A steep slope. 

Scathly — Hurtful, deadly. 

Scree — Rough pebbles. 

Scritch — To shriek wildly. 

Selcouth — Miraculous. 

Shent — Slashed, cut. 

Sikerly — Surely. 

Soothly — Truly. 

Soothfast — Loyal. 

Sliftered — Riven, split. 

Spright — Goblin: disembodied spirit. 

Stark-starven — Stripped and dead. 

Starven— Dead. 

Stead — Place. 

Stithied — Forged upon an anvil. 

Sv^ink — Toil. 

Swart — Black. 

Sj'U — Since. 

Tholen — To suffer. 

Thunder-wain — Thunder- wagon. 

Ugsome — Revolting, hideous. 

Uneath — Underneath. 

Unseely — Utterly miserable, wicked, 

Wastel-bread — Made of finest wheat flour. 

Wastorel — Waste land. 

Whilk— Which. 

Wilsome — Obdurate. 

Wight — a — Nimble (n.), a spirit. 

Withouten ween — Doubtless. 

Wode— Mad. 

Wone, n. — Wont, custom. 

Wone, V. — To dwell. 

Wonning — Dwelling, abode. 

Wrack — Destruction. 

Wroth-hail — Converse of wassail. 

Wrawle — To wail as a cat or panther. 



KANSAS BIRD SONGS. 



A MOCKING-BIRD. 

I. 

Yon mocking-bird that singing soars, 
Borrows his Httle music-scores 
And mimics every piping tone 
By sylvan lovers lightly blown 
To make his morning gladness known,— 
Till down that molten silver pours, 
Globule on globule, fast and faster : 
Dare any blame the blithe tune-master 
Who counts all minstrelsy his own? 

II. 

But daylight ended,— then indeed, 
As jet by jet a wound will bleed 

His very singing self breaks through ! 
Even so (lost Eden shut from view), 
Some wildered soul to sighing new, 
When human lips first touched the reed— 
Heart-pierced with rending love and sorrow- 
Breathed notes too god-like sweet to borrow. 
So, poet, shall it be with you. 

The Century Magazine. 

Twentieth Century Classics. 



92 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

THE THRUSH. 



Through half a June day's flight 
Upon the prairie, thirsting for the showers 
The cactus-blooms and prickly poppies 
white, 
The fox-gloves and the pink-tinged thimble- 
flowers 
Drooped in the Lord's great light. 
Now suddenly, straight to the topmost spray 
Of a wild plum-tree (I thereunder lying), 

Darted a thrush and fifed his roundelay 
Whimsey on w^himsey, not a stave denying. 
Quoth I : "From regions measureless miles 
away, 
*'He hears the soughing winds and rain-clouds 
flying; 
And gathering sounds my duller ears re- 
fuse, 
He sets the rills a-rush 
This way and that to ripple me the news 
(Right proud to have his little singing say!), 
And brings the joy to pass with prophesying." 
So gladly trilled the thrush ! 

n. 

Soon was I made aware 
Of his small mate that from the Judas-tree 



THE PURPLE FINCH. 93 

Dropped softly, flitting here and flitting 
there, 
And would not seem to hear or seem to see. 

He, in that upper air, 
All mindful of her wayward wandering, 
(Primrose and creamy-petaled larkspur bending 
And yellow blossomed nettle, prone to 
sting!), ^ r A A 

Shook out his red-brown wmgs as for descend- 
ing 
But lightly settled back, the more to snig, 
''O bird!" I sighed, "thy heedless love befriend- 
ing . 
"With that celestial song-burst— whirhng 

swift 
As Phaeton's chariot-rush ! — 
Should my dear angel's voice so down- 
ward drift 
Quick would my music-lifted soul take 

wing!" t 1 ^ 

Now had earth's happiest song a heavenly end- 
ing, — 
Sped, with his mate, the thrush. 

The Century Magadne. 

THE PURPLE FINCH. 
I. 

While lurked the coyote in his root-bound bur- 
row, 
Through haunts of the hare and the badger 

gray, 



94 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Where never the share of a plow turned fur- 
row, 
I, gathering silk-flowers, went my way. 
Wide-rimmed were the trumpets of sil- 
ver blue, 
Their slim tubes slipping out wet with honey : 
Thence blown by the winds through the 
spaces sunny, 
White butterflies high as the elm-tops 
flew. 



11. 



The ground-squirrel under the elders scam- 
pered 
Or wheeled to show me his gold-brown bars : 
Not I with the eggs of the pedee tampered. 
Nor caught the green beetles that blazed like 
stars. 
The shy, scarlet birds where the low 
boughs meet 
Looked out and went on w^ith their w^histling 

merry, 
Till down came the finch from the sun-burnt 
prairie. 
And silenced them all w^ith a chanson 
sweet. 



THE PURPLE FINCH. 95 

III. 

So secret is he, not a boy discovers 

That home he has built for the nesthngs dear ; 
So softly he carols, the hawk that hovers 
Intent upon murder, can hardly hear. 

Now trimming his crimson in coverts 
dim, , 

Now perching wherever his mood was 

suited 
He sang in the sumac velvet-fruited. 

Or sprang to the oak of the twisted hmb. 

IV. 

Till ''Higher! mount higher!" I cried, ''dear 
pleader : i •>> 

The sum of delights shall be granted thee! 
Therewith, from the height of the one dead 
cedar, 
The linnet sped out like a soul set free. 

Ah, why need the souls of the blest fly 
far!— 
Pure honey the humming-bird moth went 

sipping ; 
Pale gold was the sky where the sun was 
dipping; 
Came out the new moon and a great, 
white star ! 
The Century Magamjie. 



g6 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

CHE-WINK. 

I. 

Sing me another solo, sweet, — 

I have learnt the one by rote; 
The endless, merry-go-round repeat 
Of the tuneful, tender, teasing note: 
''Che-wink ! che-wink ! 
Che-wink ! che-wink 1'^ 
A moment's rest for the tired throat — 
Just long enough for a heart to beat — 

And at it again: "Che-wink! che-wink!" 

11. 

O, bird, dear bird with the outspread wings 

And little to chant about ! — 
When death reaches over the wrecks of things 
To stifle the soft, delighted shout : 
''Che-wink! che-wink! 
Che-wink! che-wink!" 
And, all unruffled by dread or doubt, 
Your musical mite of a soul up-springs. 

Will you still go crying: "Che-wink! che- 
wink?" 

III. 

Little I know, but this I hold : 

If the rushing stars should meet, — 

Their crystal spheres into chaos rolled, 
Let only this one pure voice entreat : 



THE RED-BIRD. 97 

"Che-wink ! che-wink ! 
Che-wink! che-wink!" 
Great Love would answer the summons 
sweet 
And a universe fresh as the rose unfold. 
So at it again: "Che-wink! che-wink!" 

The Century Magamne. 

Tzuentieth Century Classics. 



THE RED-BIRD. 

I. 

Blithe bird of the beautiful plumage — bred 
Where cottonwoodSj tossing their branches, 

shed 
Their seeded snows on the mossy bed — 
Did you dip your wings in that crimson tor- 
rent, 
When the dragon of Anarchy, all abhorrent, 
Cam.e over the border . . . and Kansas bled ? 



II. 



When wolves went prowling — each out of his 

den. 
When Pawnee and Kaw hid their squaws in 

the glen. 
While down from the West rode the fierce 

Cheyenne, — 



98 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Did you frighten those braves with your school- 
boy whistle? 

For they fled, as they came, over poppy and 
thistle, 
Nor murdered the babes of the white-faced 
men. 



III. 



Be the weather never so cold, we hear 
Your voice in the tree-tops, trombone-clear : 
"Come out in the bitter!" — "Now what do 
you fear?" 
But ever your challenge, bright trumpeter va- 
ries: 
''Come hither!" — "Come hurry!" — "Come see 
the green prairies!" 
"Wild roses !" — "Primroses !" — - "Blue 
vetches!"— "S-o n-e-a-r!" 



IV. 



A Kansan I knew who was dear and brave; 

He lived but to cherish, — he perished to save. 

Unworthy was I of the love he gave : 
But flit where he marched over hill and hollow, 
I would rise and follow — would follow — 
follow. 

To hear you chant on a soldier's grave. 



THE RED-BIRD. 99 

V. 



Sing on, lovely warbler of thicket and plain! 

*'Was never a martyr who sorrowed in vain !" 

*'0, hark!"— "He is sending His rain!"— 

"His rain!" 

"He will load with corn all the wharves and 

ferries !" 
"But first he will sweeten the nettle-tree ber- 
ries, 
And comfort his birds with the golden 
grain I" 



^or^' 



lOO RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

ABIGAIL BECKER. 

Written by solicitation of Capt. E. P, Dorr, of 
Buffalo, N. Y., who had previously been the means 
of securing, for Mrs. Becker, a gold medal from 
the N. Y. Life-saving Society, a gift of -$1,000 from 
Buffalonians, and a grant from the Canadian Parlia- 
ment of $1,000, in land. Mrs. Becker, a Canadian, 
was by descent half Scotch, half German, of gi- 
gantic stature (6 ft., 2 in.), and possessed of a mag- 
nanimity only equaled by her bravery. This 
poem, originally published in The Century Magazine, 
was soon after incorporated into the Canadian High 
School Reader, and is also to be found among 
American Selected Recitations. The narrative is ex- 
act in all its details. A. T. J. 

Wreck of the Schooner Conductor, off Long 
Point Island, Canada West, near Buffalo, Nov. 

1853- 

The wind, the wind where Erie plunged 

Sou'west, blew, blew from land to land. 
The wandering schooner dipped and lunged, — 
Long Point was close at hand. 

Long Point — a swampy island-slant, 

Where, busy in their grassy homes. 
Woodcock and snipe the hollows haunt 
And muskrats build their domes. 

Where gulls and eagles rest at need ; 

Where, either side, by lake or sound, 
King-fishers, cranes and divers feed 
And mallard ducks abound. 



ABIGAIL BECKER. lOI 

The lowering night shut out the sight: 

Careened the vessel, pitched and veered ; 
Raved, raved the wind with main and might, — 
The sunken reef she neared. 



She pounded over, lurched and sank: 
Between two sand-bars settling fast 
Her leaky hull the waters drank, 
And she had sailed her last. 

Into the rigging, quick as thought. 

Captain and mate and sailors sprung, 
Clambered for life, some vantage caught 
And there all night they swung. 

And it was cold, oh, it was cold ! 

The pinching cold was like a vise; 
Spoondrift flew freezing, — fold on fold 
It coated them with ice. 

Now when the dawn began to break, 

Light up the sand-path drenched and brown, 
To fill her bucket from the lake 

Came Mother Becker down. 

From where her cabin crowned the bank 
Came Abigail Becker, tall and strong. 
She dipped and lo ! a broken plank 
Rode rocking close along. 



102 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

She poised her glass with anxious ken : 

The schooner's top she spied from far; 
And there she counted seven men 

That clung to mast and spar. 

And oh, the gale! the rout and roar! 

The blinding drift, the mounting wave! 
A good half-mile from wreck to shore 
With seven men to save ! 

Sped Mother Becker : ''Children ! wake ! 

''A ship's gone down! they're needing me! 
Your father's off on shore ! the lake 
Is just a raging sea ! 

"Get wood, cook fish, make ready all !" 

She snatched her stores, she fled with haste, 
In cotton gown and tattered shawl, 
Barefoot across the waste. 

Through sinking sands, through quaggy lands, 

And nearer, nearer, full in view, 
Went shouting through her hollowed hands : 
''Courage! we'll get you through!" 

Ran to and fro, made cheery signs. 

Her bonfire lighted, steeped her tea, 
Brought driftwood, watched Canadian lines 
Her husband's boat to see. 



ABIGAIL BECKER. IO3 

Cold, cold it was, oh, it was cold! 

The bitter cold made watching vain : 
With ice the channel laboring rolled, — 
No skiff could stand the strain. 



On all that isle, from outer swell 

To strait, between the landings shut, 

Was never place where man might dwell 

Save trapper Becker's hut. 

And it was twelve and one and tw^o 

And it was three o'clock and more : 
She called : "Come on ! there's nought to do 
But leap ! and swim ashore !" 

Blew, blew the gale; they did not hear. 

She waded in the shallow sea, 
She waved her hands, made signals clear : 
**Swim ! swim ! and trust to me !" 

''My men," the captain cried, "I'll try : 

'The woman's judgment may be right; 
For swim or sink, seven men must die 
If here we swing to-night." 

Far out he marked the gathering surge ; 
Across the bar he watched it pour; 
Let go and on its topmost verge 
Came riding in to shore. 



I04 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

It Struck the breaker's foamy track: 
Majestic wave on wave up-hurled, 
Went grandly toppling, tumbling back 
As loath to flood the world! 



There blindly whirling, shorn of strength, 

The captain drifted, sure to drown; 
Dragged seaward half a cable's length. 
Like sinking lead went down. 

Ah, well for him that on the strand 

Had Mother Becker waited long! 

And well for him her grasping hand 

And grappling arm were strong! 

And well for him that wind and sun 

And daily toil for scanty gains 
Had made such daring blood to run 
Within such generous veins. 

For what to do but plunge and swim? 

Out on the sinking billow cast. 
She toiled, she dived, she groped for him, 
She found and clutched him fast. 

She climbed the reef, she brought him up, 

She laid him, gasping on the sands. 
Built high the fire and filled the cup, — 
Stood up and waved her hands! 



ABIGAIL BECKER. IO5 

Oh, life is dear ! The mate leaped in : 

"I know," the captain said, ''right well, 
*'Not twice can any woman win 
A soul from yonder hell!" 

"I'll start and meet him in the w^ave." 

''Keep back !" she bade. "What strength have 
you? 
"And I shall have you both to save, — 
Must work to pull you through !" 

But out he went. Up shallow sweeps 

Raced the long white caps, comb on comb : 
The wind, the wind that lashed the deeps, 
Far, far it blew the foam. 

The frozen foam w^ent scudding by,— 
Before the wind, a seething throng, 
The waves, the waves came towering high ! 
They flung the mate along. 

The waves came towering high and white, 

They burst in clouds of flying spray ; 
There mate and captain sank from sight 
And clinching, rolled away. 

O, Mother Becker, seas are dread. 

Their treacherous paths are deep and blind! 
But widows twain shall mourn their dead 
If thou art slow to find ! 



I06 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

She sought them near, she sought them far ; 

Three fathoms down she gripped them tight : 
With both together, up the bar 
She staggered into sight. 

Beside the fire her burdens fell : 

She paused the cheering draught to pour, 
Then waved her hands: ''All's w^ell! all's well! 
"Come on! Swim! swim ashore!" 

Sure life is dear and men are brave : 

They came, they dropped from mast and 
spar; 
And who but she could breast the wave 
And dive beyond the bar! 

Dark grew the sky from East to West 
And darker, darker grew the world: 
Each man from off the breaker's crest 
To gloomier deeps was hurled. 

And still the gale went shrieking on; 

And still the wrecking fury grew, 
And still the woman, w^orn and wan 

Those gates of death went through! — 

As Christ w^ere walking on the weaves 
And heavenly radiance shone about. 
All fearless trod that gulf of graves 
And bore the sailors out I 



ABIGAIL BECKER. IO7 

Down came the night, but far and bright, 

Despite the wind and flying foam, 
The bonfire flamed to give them Hght 
To trapper Becker's home! 

Oh, safety after wreck is sweet, 

And sweet is rest in hut or hall! 
One story Life and Death repeat : — 
God's mercy over all! 



Next day men heard, put out from shore, 

Crossed channel-ice, burst in to find 
Seven gallant fellows sick and sore, 
A tender nurse and kind; 

Shook hands, wept, laughed, were crazy glad! 

Cried : ''Never yet on land or sea 
"Poor, dying, drowning sailors had 
A better friend than she! 

''Billows may tumble, winds may roar. 
Strong hands the wrecked from death may 
snatch. 
But never, never, nevermore 

This deed shall mortal match!" 

Dear Mother Becker dropped her head; 
She blushed as girls when lovers woo : 
"I have not done a thing," she said, 
"More than I ought to do!" 

The Century Magazine. 



I08 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

SEA-TROUT. 

I. 

Blithe young fishermen were they 

Who many a chantey knew. 
I'heir snow-sailed shallop crossed the bay 
As a flower cast forth to drift astray ; 
But one would wed on the coming day 

And they were a merry crew. 



11. 



Bride and bridemaids full of glee 

Stood laughing by the gate : 
''Their lines shall riot far and free. 
Shall capture your beautiful tribes, O, sea! 
And rich at night will the bridegroom be,- 

Returning slow and late." 



III. 



"Rise, O, trout, from the hollows cold 
Where quinnat and red fish hide! 
All out of the wonderful deeps cajoled, 
And out of the dim sea-gardens trolled, — 
The groom shall buy from a purse of gold, 
A ring for the happy bride." 



SEA-TROUT. 109 

IV. 



Out on the sea was a squall at play 
(The winds no merriment lack!) ; 
And there was a shallop caught astray, 
As a flower it drifted into the bay . . . . 
The singing fishermen, where were they? 
For only the boat came back ! 



Where was the glittering wealth foretold— 

Cajoled from under the sea ? 
Away with its beautiful tribes it rolled! 
Where, rich with the salt, its flowers unfold, 
There fin of silver and scale of gold 
Are rioting far and free! 

The Continent. 



INTERLUDES. 



MY LITTLE WIFE. 

My little wife's a world too sweet 
For such a man as I am : 

But she's a Trojan — hard to beat 
As Hector, son of Priam ! 

A winsome, wilful morsel, she: 
Brought up to grace a palace, 

She ran away to marry me, — 
Half love, half girlish malice. 

She never has repented though: 
We built a cot in Jersey : 

She wore delaine and calico, 
And I wore tweed and kersey. 



So great our love it bridged across 
Whatever might divide us. 

■However went the gain or loss 
We felt as rich as Midas. 

I helped her with the brush and broom 
Her morning labors aiding : 

She followed to the counting-room, — 
Made out my bills of lading. 



MY LITTLE WIFE. Ill 

And once, when sick of chills I lay 

She balanced up the pages; 
Did all my work from day to day, 

And brought home all my wages. 

Then I was just a shipping clerk, — 
Old firm of Graves and Gartner: 

Till, after long and weary work, 
They took me in as partner. 

So year on year went gaily round 

While we grew rich and richer, 
Until, in every spring we found, 

We dipped a golden pitcher. 

When Gartner left, grown old and lame, 

I bought him out completely; 
Made wife a partner; changed the name 

To Wheatly, Graves and Wheatly. 

A silent partner ? Not at all ! 

With genius more than Sapphic, 
She improvised — that lady small — 

The poetry of traffic. 

And, flitting through our offices. 
With word and smile admonished : 

"We'll work no metamorphoses 
To make a lie look honest." 



112 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Meantime the business grew and grew 
With not a cloud to daunten : 

Till wife, who wanted tea like dew 
Sent me a-drift for Canton. 

No sooner was I well at sea, 

Than with a whirl insanic, 
Down came that flood of seventy-three, 

And shook the world with panic. 

Then many a house as strong as life 
Was caught and torn asunder : 

Till Graves came trembling to my wife 
And said: "We're going under!" 

Wife saw the gulf but kept her poise; 

Disposed of plate and raiment, 
Sold all her jewels (but the boys!), 

And met the heaviest payment. 

So Graves and she, with work and wit, 

With care and self-denial. 
Upheld the firm, — established it 

The surer for the trial. 

Through all the strife they paid the hands 
Full price, — none saw them falter. 

And now the house, rock-founded, stands 
As steady as Gibraltar. 



A LOVER TO HIS LADY. II3 

But wife keeps with us, guards us through 

Like Miriam watching Moses; 
She drinks her tea as pure as dew 

And sells it — fresh as roses! 

Yes, she's a Trojan ! Hard to beat 

As all the sons of Priam : 
But bless you ! she's a world too sweet 

For such a man as I am! 

The Continent. 



A LOVER TO HIS LADY. 
L 

This earth was never so fair and sweet 

So merry and sweet before, 
Since glaciers wasted away with heat 

And nestlings learned to soar. 
Since the orchis blew and the palm-tree grew 
And the balm its blood-red blossoms bore. 

H. 

For where was Love when the land was new ? 

He swam with the reptile then, 
With the auroch roamed, with the vulture 
flew 

And woned in the lion's den. 



114 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Till straight to the light he sprang in flight 
And sang his way to the souls of men. 



III. 



Since then, my Queen, there is no more 
night : 
Whenever the day seems done 
Some lover goes scaling the crag-built height 
And tells of a dawn begun : 
Goes mounting afar from cloud to star 
And loud and long he laughs in the sun. 

IV. 

They throng the heavens, so many they are — 

Those earth-born lovers true. 
Who planted the vine by the salt-sea bar 

And the fig where thistles grew ; 
Who cleared the fen and the cave-bear's den, 
Who drave out the wolf and the tiger slew. 

V. 

We also delve in desert and glen, 

We labor in sun or sleet ; 
For Love, that wones in the hearts of men, 
Will have his world complete 
With the fig-tree and balm, with the rose and 
palm, 
Till it grows forever and ever sweet ! 



A LOVER TO HIS LADY. II5 

VL 

Dear Heart, when whirling winds grow cahn 

And seas have fallen asleep, 
When hills are holy with harp and psalm 
And roll of harmonies deep. 
When the blest earth cries to the frownless 
skies 
And down its cliffs hears the answers leap, 

VII. 

When beasts are gentle and men are wise 

And Love has had his will, 
When the angels look through all disguise 

And laugh to find no ill, 
True lovers will gaze on the flowery ways 
Where now but a barren heath we till; 



VIII. 

And calling: ''O, ye, of the olden days 

Who set these lilies a-row! 
Is Love more sweet where the twelve suns 
blaze 
Than Love in the world below?" — 
They shall hear us far from our own fleet star : 
''More sweet ! more sweet ! climb hither and 
know 1" 



Il6 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

EPITHALAMIUM. 

I. 

For the dawning of Love, lo, a universe waits ! 
The blush runs up higher, the darkness 

abates ; 
Out strikes a white arm bursting wide the red 
gates 
And purple runs down through the 
heather : 
Over all, while the happy seas laugh 
Far flashes God's heliograph : 
"Be ye wedded and travel together !" 

11. 

Now long be your journey, O, bridegroom and 

bride ! 
Be the peace of your spirits whatever betide 
As the peace of still waters where lilies abide 
That fail not the winters to weather, — 
As the peace of fair Sharon, so blest 
When the Master at noon-day took rest 
Where the brooks ran in shadow together ! 

III. 

Press on through green valleys if so it may 

chance. 
Over hills where each cataract hurls a white 

lance. 



EPITHALAMIUM. II7 

Across the crevasses where glaciers advance, — 
To chnib or to halt who knows whether? 

Then back through the snows - 

Where the eidelweiss blows 
And you find a warm shelter together. 

IV. 

Lightly pass where the dark prophets dwell in 

their caves 
Wailing : ''Dread will it be when the hurricane 

raves !'' 
*'Look out for the torrent ! its death-dealing 
waves. 
Are as tigers, no mortal can tether." 
Laugh out : "At their will let them leap : 
''Love is lordlier still, — we shall keep 
Afloat while we ferry together." 

V. 

Never heed the small souls you will happen to 

meet, 
Complaining: "Alas! there is cold!" — "There is 

heat !" 
*'You must tread the sharp rocks, they will tor- 
ture the feet 1" 
Laugh on : "Let them cut through the 
leather : 
"And, if we must clamber unshod, 
It will be of the goodness of God 
That we clamber full sweetly together." 



Il8 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

VL 

O, hearken ! Such music of speech you sliall 

hear, — 
Voices, echoes of voices all crying: *'Good 

cheer!" 
And clasping small fingers eternally dear, — 
Care floating away as a feather, 
You will lovingly answer the call : 
"Merry cheer! come and feast one and 
all; 
Let us breathe the world's rapture to- 
gether." 

VII. 

But the Master is certain to summon His 

own ; 
And one will be taken and one left alone : 
Your late-budding roses will wither unblown, 
With the low, purple bells of the heather. 
They will blight, they w'ill shrivel and 

fade: 
But deep in the safety of shade 
Their roots search for sweetness together. 

VIII. 

Ah, the one that is left — slipping out from dis- 
guise. 

Will hear the loved voice crying: "Sweetheart, 
arise ! 



THE CHILD. 119 

•There is dew on the grass, there is light in the 
skies, 
There are shouts between upper and 

nether; , 1 -j 

'Speed hither, O, bridegroom and bride 
Immortal !— who says ye have died ?^ ^^ 
High as heaven come journey together!' " 



THE CHILD. 
I. 

How long shall the child be yours 
To cherish and hold 
With a tenderness all untold — 

The dimples, the lovely contours, 
The infantile, exquisite hues 
Where the rosy and white interfuse, 

The smile and the soul that allures? 
Ah, who will dare venture to say : 
"To-morrow shall be as to-day. 

This sweetness forever endures?" 



II. 



How long shall the child be yours? 
From the sun out-rolled, 
The earth in its orbit of gold, 
Our light and our life secures 



120 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

With a vigor that shall not lag 

Till the wheels of the great sun drag 
And chaos the glory obscures. 

Yet who will have courage to say : 

"Whatever else passes away 
The planet forever endures?" 

III. 

How long shall the child be yours? 
Through the night and the cold ? 
Oh, Love with an utterance bold, 

The gladness and glory assures! 
**The fashion of earth may pass 
With the flower and the springing grass, 

The tomb all flesh immures : 

But none shall be able to say 
"The spirit is one with the clay 

Whose darkness forever endures." 



IV. 



How long shall the child be yours? . . 
When the heavens are rolled 
As a scroll — all the stars being old, 

And the fiat destruction insures. 

Yet you and the child most sweet- 
Angelic, of stature complete — 

Will follow the heavenly lures 

Hand in hand up the infinite way, 
While singing, the seraphim say: 

"Most holy is Love that endures." 



KING DAVID. 121 

"KING DAVID." 

Prince Edward of York, aged five years. 

(Written during the South African War.) 

I. 

''King David," whose sires, by the grace of 
God, 

Ruled more than a thousand years ago, 
May number his years by the pendulum-rod 

Swung merrily five times to and fro. 

He is ready to wrestle or race or row 

And he talks the talk of the sailors, — oh, 
Not wicked, of course, but — rather odd! 
A rollicking boy, by the grace of God! 



II. 



''King David" is young, by the grace of God, 
He blinks at his forefathers all in a row : 

The laddie, through wearisome books must 
plod, — 
Just think ! such a long, white mark to toe, 
Three steps away from a throne you know ! 
While over the ocean the swift ships go 

And skies rain daisies on every clod! 

Yet he laughs and he learns, by the grace of 
God. 



122 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

III. 

''King David" will reign by the grace of God 
When the tides roll in : — O tides, be slow ! 

Sw^ing many a year, O swaying rod ! 

Ere, mightily bending his good cross-bow, 
His knights by his side and the seas at flow, 
He shall swear, as a true King must, I trow, 

To cling to his heritage, every rod 

And rule it a-right — by the grace of God. 



IV. 



**King David" is loved, by the grace of GoD, 

Wherever the valorous Britons go ; 
The walls of Jericho tremble and nod 

When all together their trumpets blow! 

Proud England, seeing the w^ounds they 
show, 

Out-weeping and smiling, murmurs low — 
Full tenderly kissing the crimson sod : 
*'Ye are all my kings, by the grace of God!" 



V. 



"King David" is kin, by the grace of God, 
To Jonathan's boys, — they fancy so : 

They are hardly as meek as the man who trod 
The mountain of Horeb long ago; 



BUGLER DUNN. 1 23 

But they care for their cousins, whether or 

no; 
And they call across while the great winds 
blow : 
**Sweet health to 'King David !' Peace hallow 

the sod 
Where the wise queen rules, by the grace of 
God!" 

The Youth's Companion. 



BUGLER DUNN. 
I. 



O drummer-boy, nations have heard of your 

fame ! 
The four winds went shouting and singing 

your name : 
It soared on the wings of a miracle-flame, 

It flashed from Colenso to Dover: 
A fire leaping out from the heart of the sun, 
V/ent writing on clouds of the honor you won, 
When under you trembled the earth Bugler 

Dunn, 
And chariots of battle rolled over ! 



124 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

II. 

*'We crossed the Tugela, the child in our van : 
We held him back, thrust him back, man after 

man : 
A ball tore his arm but he laughed as he ran — 

Changed hands, not a bugle-note wanting. 
No peril could tempt him his duty to shun : 
Twice-wounded, we send him to you, Sergeant 

Dunn : 
We all love our drummer, — be proud of your 

son. 
An army his merit is vaunting." 



III. 



Good sooth, you had only your guerdon to 

claim! 
"Now what shall I ask of the Queen in your 

name?" 
Said good Princess Christian, that bountiful 

dame : 
"Please to send me back soon?" Ah, you 

rover ! 
So eager to dash at the Boer with his gun, 
In front of your fusiliers, sharing the fun! 
But turn round and love him, when fighting is 

done. 
And the thunders of God have passed over ! 



VINCENT ARCHER. I25 

IV. 

O lad of Colenso, long burn the white flame 
That burst through the war-cloud revealing 

your name! 
Till boys, going downward to sorrow and 
shame 
Start back and look up at the wonder, — 
Spring forward and follow you, facing the 

gun, 
Or gather green laurels at home. Bugler Dunn, 
While over them flashes that fire of the sun, 
And blue-bells and beauties bloom under! 



VINCENT ARCHER. 

I. 

Great battles are won without sabre or gun : 
Right well may a father rejoice in his son, 
Who leaps out to play, when his duty is done, 

Glad-hearted, defiant of evil ! 
He scatters good seed to the wind and the rain : 
It roots in the stubble, it thrives on the plain, 
It lives through the winter — snow flying 
amain ! 

And God saves the wheat from the weevil. 



126 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

II. 

Behold then, my hero! — None blazoned his 

fame : 
Mayhap the white angel, recording his name, 
Wrote plainly thereafter : **A soul without 

blame." 
Not ten years old, shy as a plover, 
He knew about angels . . . His mother 

was one! 
He watched the boys rush to their game in the 

sun — 
''Come out," they all shouted, *'and share in the 

fun!" 
He shook his head, blushing all over. 



III. 



If I were Apollo and played the great lyre 
On Olympus, to all the bright gods and their 

sire, 
I would sing of the boy through a halo of 

fire : — 
Unselfish, devoted and tender. 
To care for three children save him there was 

none : 
His part to make merry, no trouble to shun. 
To comfort his father when labor was done, 
All manner of service to render. 



MAMIE S KISSES. 12/ 

IV. 

A-trundling the baby, for pleasure he came, 
Tvv^o little ones tumbling and spoiling the 

game — 
Believe me his mother, where gates are aflame, 

Called out to each heavenly rover; 
Smiled proudly and sweetly: **Look! that is 

my son !" 
And you and I knew in our hearts every one, 
iTheir deep-seeing eyes were with tears over- 
run, 
Though they laughed with delight looking 
over ! 



MAMIE'S KISSES. 

[Mary Earned.] 

I. 

"Kiss me, Mamie!" so they teased her, 

Every guest to laughter stirred. 
But not one among them pleased her,— 

Shy as any woodland bird. 
Then they offered ribbons, dresses, 

Watches, golden filagree: 
Still she shook her sunny tresses — 

Turned and smiled and came to me. 



128 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

11. 

''Ah," they said, "you little Tartar ! 

"Is your naughty will so strong? 
She's a poet : will you barter 

Mamie's kisses for a song?" 
Now I hold that nothing worse is 

Than to vex a child for fun; 
So I said : "I'll write the verses : 

"Will you kiss me, pretty one?" 

III. 

Then the little maid grew bolder, 

Heeded not the mocking mirth : 
Freely let me lift and hold her — 

Daintiest creature on the earth! 
Breath like winds the flowers caressing, 

Soft lips lightly touching mine, 
Left thereon for endless blessing 

Kisses sweet as muscadine. 



IV. 

Now may earth and Heaven blending- 
All below and all above — 

Evermore her cause defending — 
Bless the little girl I love! 



A SMALL PESSIMIST. 12g 



What she wins or what she misses, 
Love or sorrow, peace or strife, 

Sweeter than her own sweet kisses, 
First and last be Mamie's hfe. 



The Bright Side."^ 



A SMALL PESSIMIST. 

Scene : — Glen Elgin Falls, Lowth, Canada 
West. Time, 1845. 

I. 

Three girls — little lovers of sunlight and rain, 

Ran off to the hills in a flurry: 
"Or else we might drown in the creek or the 

drain," 
Said Miranda; "and look at that poisonous 

crane ! 
*'Folks say if he bites, you will die of the pain. 
Let's go and get out of the worry." 

II. 

We went till we found a red thorn-apple tree, — 

Such apples no grocer could sell you : 
Delicious to eat and enticing to see. 
But Miranda grew solemn as solemn could be: 

*A popular young folks' paper published by 
John B. Alden previous to the Chicago fire, 
and for a time edited by the Author. 



130 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

"I shake like a leaf! I'm so scared!" whis- 
pered she; 
*'0 girls, I have something to tell you ! 

III. 

^There's a Spirit that flies when the sky is all 
blue, — 
You can't see a cloud if you try to ! — 
East, West, North and South, like the wan- 
dering Jew : 
I have heard it so often I know it is true. 
He is looking this moment for me and for you, 
And there isn't a cave we can fly to. 

IV. 

*'Take hold of my hands : I am all of a chill 1 

He's a terrible, terrible Spirit! 
Folks say when he sees little girls on a hill 
By a thorn-apple tree — if they've eaten their 

fill- 
He comes and he kills them ! We'd better keep 
still: 
If we only just squeak he can hear it." 

V. 
Sobbed Dorothy Jane: *'We coulc! run if we 
tried ; 
"We are all of us quicker than weasels." 
Then we leaped to our feet: "Let us run! let 
us hide!" 



A SMALL PESSIMIST. I3I 

And we ran and we ran, for the world was so 

wide, 
Down the slope, through the hollow, across the 

divide. 
Right over the burdocks and teazels. 

VI. 

Now there was a factory down by the race, — 

Alas, it is sixty years older ! 
Where we ''handed in ends" (pray, was that 

a disgrace?) : 
Up the stairs, to the belfry — oh, wild was the 

chase ! — 
To the ridge-pole ! — was ever so secret a place ? 
And there we sat, shoulder to shoulder. 

VII. 

*'0, girls, let me tell you ! It isn't a lie. 

It's the truth," said Miranda the tragic. 
"If when you've been frightened (it's easy to 

try), 
You can feel a pulse beating right under your 

eye. 
In just twenty minutes you're going to die!" 
And down fell the tears by some magic. 

VIII. 

Now this was too much for poor Dorothy 
Jane: 
"You may stay here and scare one another, 
Or die if you want to! — nobody '11 complain. 



132 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

You'll be bitten, I s'pose, by that poisonous 

crane : 
Most likely you'll all double up with the pain ! 
As for me, I'll go home to my mother." 

IX. 

"But we haven't — been — scared!" said Mi- 
randa to me, 
"So we're safe, — though I think it's a won- 
der. 
It was dangerous under that thorn-apple tree, 
For the sky was so blue any spirit could see; 
And painters and wolves could have eaten all 
three. 
Or it might have been — earthquake — or 
thunder." 



BEAUTY. 



[For Catherine Manierre and Other Little 
Ladies.] 

In a lovely dream-garden Child Beauty one 

day 
Met Bliss, the Queen-Fairy whom dreamers 

obey. 
Said Beauty : "Come kiss me ! and what shall 

we play?" 



BEAUTY. 133 

''Let US play you are thinking, my dear," 
smiled the Queen : 

''While I wave my light wand of the hazel- 
tree green, 

Whatsoever you think shall fly out and be 
seen." 

Beauty laughed and thought rainbows: — they 

floated in light! 
There was never a cloud, but they must have 

been right. 
For the pale city-children clapped hands at the 

sight. 

Then she mused about morning and what the 

winds bring 
When, rushing, they set the bird-cradles 

a-swing, — 
Toss the gauzy, slight insects nor tarnish a 

wing. 

Out came darning-needles, rich beetles and bees 
(Caught wading in dusty gold up to their 

knees), 
Purple emperor-butterflies floating at ease, 

And shining white mother-moths, — who could 

guess where 
They flew out or blew out to make 'people 

stare ? — 
As you would and I would if we had been 

there 



134 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Now who could be thinking out curious things 
Forever? — with feelers and stingers and 

wings ? 
Beauty thought little beggars (she might have 

thought kings!). 

They swarmed without number: — and ah, 

they looked old, 
Lean, ragged and wretched, lame, hungry and 

cold! 
They quarreled, they snatched, they were 

saucy and bold! 

Cried Beauty: ''Dear Bliss, do not wander 

away: 
"All these will be angels, one beautiful day! 
O, see! they are angels! Come back: let us 

play!" 



[The garden! the garden! — Does any one 
know 
Where its rosemaries, balsams and eglantines 

grow? 
To find it how far must a poor cripple gof^^ 



COMING HOME. 135 



COMING HOME. 



A six-year's child I climbed the gate 
All round the world to see: 

''Oh, why does mother stay so late? 
Where can she, can she be?" 

I saw the pool as grey as lead, 

Blue Iris near the brink, 
The rough-railed pasture, sorrel-red, 

The meadow, clover pink. 

I saw the yellow sands where lay 

My periwinkles brown, 
Silver Cayuga wind away 

And purple mists fall down. 

I saw the flume, the waterfall, 
The white and flying foam, 

Yet missed the dearest sight of all, 
My mother — coming home! 

It surely, surely would be night! 

The lady four-o'clocks 
Unwound their silky ribbons bright, 

Shook out their party frocks. 



136 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

The miller-moth went high and higher, 
Went round and round about; 

The sun's broad face was red as fire 
He was so tired out. 



So down he sank behind the brush, — 
I thought he dropped a spark, 

Right after such a crimson blush 
Ran kindling through the dark. 

A spark, a blush, a smoky blaze 

Began to creep and turn. 
To climb and cling, — a hundred w^ays 

To burn and burn and burn. 

Oh, was it truly fire? I thought, 

Or people of the air. 
With mantles from the sunset caught 

And fiery, floating hair? 

My heart beat hard with fancy- fright : 
"Should mother come that way, 

And should they snatch her, hold her tight, 
What would we, would we say? 

"Their shiny cloaks, how far they blow ! 

They'll wind her round and round. 
She'll never think, she'll never know. 

She'll never hear a sound : 



COMING HOME. 137 

''Not even should we call and call, 

They'll take her up so high! 
They'll hide her, wrap her, burn her all 

'Way through the blazing skyl" 

Out gushed my tears — the silly child ! 

Such bitter grief I had: 
First thing I knew, there mother smiled, 

And all my world was glad ! 



O, mother! mother! thought is swift: 

'But, who would count the hours, 
Since lightly blew that snowy drift 
Right in among the flowers? 

Ah, not so long ago — not long, 
You passed the lowly gate! 

I know your love is sweet and strong; 
Why zvill you stay so late! 

What use to me the grey and blue, 

The rosy and the white, 
The silks of Summer, fair of hue? 

It surely will be night! 

You, you I want! I call your name, 
All round the world I see: 

So whirled away in holy flame- 
Where can you, can you be? 



o 



8 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 



Hush, foolish one, heart-struck with fear! 

The sorry thought let go. 
You look so far, she comes so near, 

Soft-smiling, still and slow! 

Not rushing fires that skyward fling, 

Though wide they be and wild, 
Not Life nor Death, nor anything 

Will keep her from her child. 

Turn round and face the heavenly sight; 

Spring to the loving breast! 
O, sweet surprise! O, dear delight! 

All kissed away to rest! 

Goodform. 

Poets and Poetry of Buifalo. 



POSTLUDES. 

CHRISTMAS-DAY. 

I. 

Friendless and ragged and old 
Wretched and wicked was I, — 
A woman to harry and hate! 
And if I had made so bold 
As to seek for a place to die — 
Open to all the sleet — 
Dragging my black-bruised feet 
Near to a rich man's gate, 
His dogs had howled me away: 
Aye, even on Christmas-Day! 

11. 

But vipers may crawl in the street : 
That morning they let me stay 
Not far from Trinity's door, 
While the chiming bells did beat 
And the proud went in to pray. 
I heard the choir-boys sing : 
"Glory to God our King!" 
And the great-voiced organ roar 
"Their Christ is risen," I said, 
"Mine sleeps forever instead! 



140 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

III. 

''I have no spices to bring-, 
Nor oil on his feet to shed 

Though an angel should lead me in. 
However the glad chimes ring, 

My Lord lies murdered and dead, — 
Buried and makes no sign!" — 
That moment a hand caught mine, 
Forced open the fingers thin : — 
In haste, as I turned my head, 
The beautiful vision fled. 



IV. 



Lo! there — fire-tried and fine — 
Lay gold for a half year's bread. 
With a red rose fresh and sweet! 
I answered the chant divine: 
''He is risen! is risen!" I said: 
''O, lift your heads ye gates! 
For the King of Glory waits!" 
And my soul rose up to meet 
The Lord of the hungry and cold. 

The Christ of the wicked and old. 



Goodform. 



AT THE FORD. I4I 

AT THE FORD. 

The crossing washed with turbulent waves, 
The footing sHght, the sight a-strain : — 

Is yonder isle the place of graves, 

All dimly seen through pelting rain? 

The spume has soaked my vesture through: 
From stone to stone, with none to aid, 

In haste my lampless cell to view, 
I leap and w^ill not be afraid. 

Low rolls the nimbus overhead; 

Sharp thunder breaks, — earth shakes with 
noise ; 
Glitters that sheeted spectre dread 

Whose lightest finger-touch destroys. 

Let loose from every cloud at last 
With tumult dire the fire-ghost flies. 

And lo, the roaring torrent passed. 
An open grave before me lies ! 

Though dank and dark and spaded deep, 
I will not heed, — I need not care: 

These fleshly senses cast asleep. 

Their captive slipping from the snare. 



142 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

O, subtle Spirit, thou shalt be 

Potent as heat and fleet as Hght, — 

A storm-escaping splendor, free 
To make the outer spaces bright ; 

To flash through inter-stellar ways 

Where spins the host of ghostly suns : — 

Long furnace-fined from mortal gaze, 
They lure the feet of blessed ones. 

Dead! dead! where fell the lightning-slroke! 

Their hoards, their homes, their hopes 
a-dust ; 
The worlds whereon they dwelt a-smoke 

And into formless ruin thrust, — 

Oh, yet they build, they nothing lack! 

No evil charms, no harms befall : 
Nay ! but for these the heavens were black, 

Who, love-illumed, illumine all ! 

Flit forth, sweet sprite, to long delight : 
Thou, too, shalt glow with holy fire; 

Shalt traverse suns all spirit-white, 
Whose dross-consuming flames expire; 

Shalt soar through elemental jar 

Where each in gloom his doom awaits ; 

Shalt guide the trembling loiterers far 
And comfort them with delicates. 



143 



"A NEW COMMANDMENT." 

[For Mary E. White.] 

I. 

"Children, love one another," One said: — 
We climbing and clinging obey, 

And whether we lead or are led 
In His wonderful, beautiful w^ay. 
Up-looking we whisper and say : 
" 'Strait and narrow' yet wide as the day 

Oh, wide as God's love is this excellent 
way !" 



11. 



Even so the archangels who stand 

"In the midst" by His holy white throne, 

Soared thither strong hand clasping hand, 
Nor entered His presence alone. 
Their thousands, of number unknown — 
Every creature who laughs or makes moan, 

Crying: "Worthy! Most worthy!" shall stand 
by His throne. 



144 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

COMFORTED. 
"Eyes that have wept see clear." 
E. B. Brozmiing. 
I. 

Up I rose when the babe was gone ! 
*'How shall my soul the silence meet? 

How shall I — sick for the buried grace — 
Cover the beautiful face and feet. 
Yield to the night my flower of dawn?" 

{The dews of the Lord are sweet!) 

11. 

Blew His winds till the skies were bare! 
Under His Heaven four rivers run. 

Saw I their foam on the dark shore 
break — 
Flake upon flake, each flake a sun; 
O, my Beloved, thy paths were fair! 

{His night and His day are one!) 



MADE MANIFEST. 

I. 

O, Master of the banquet, suice we thirst, 
Give us to drink according to our need! 

Spilth of the vineyards w^hen their full grapes 
burst, 
Rank juice of acrid herbs, or honeyed mead, 



MADE MANIFEST. I45 

Or mountain-waters drained 
Through fissured rocks from fountains un- 
profaned : — 



II. 



Whether the draft be clear as innocence, 

Turbid as drift of valley-scourging floods, 
Purple as pools when battle-clouds are dense 
And all is carnage, red as Judas-buds 

That blushed with fear and shame 
When, fain to die, sweet Jesu's murderer 
came. 



III. 



Yet black at last shall be the hellebore! 

Then shall we push all wide the jasper gate 
And pass, disdaining Death : — Forevermore 

Endowed with holy love and holy hate, — 
Set free and unafraid 

Of depth or height or any creature made. 



Ah, heed thou not our feeble, petulant cries! 

Pour as we need, whatever we desire. 
Thou didst for us, aforetime, span the skies : 

There shall we track thee by the paths of 
fire 



146 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Where-through, with thee, we came; 
And weep and say "Our Father!" — void of 
blame. 



DOORS OF OLIVE. 

I. 

Oh, the palace hewn of stone 

Pure as mountain snows, 
Where the King receives His own 
At the daylight's close! — 
Beams of cedar, olive doors, 
Planks of fir to line the floors, 

Chambers set in ivory towers, 
Lavers wrought about the brim, 
Carven-work of open flowers, 
Palms and cherubim. 

IL 

Lo, the splendor of the sight 
Where His beacon glows! 
Thither, at the fall of nigh4;, 
One came breathing woes : 
Knocking at the outer gate, — 
"Lord, behold me where I wait ! 

All about Thy fair abode 
Hear the wandering lions roar: 
Fear is on me as a load : 
Open, Lord, the door!" 



DOORS OF OLIVE. I47 

III. 

Answered one : "Thy crying spare : 

Should the door unclose, 
Soldiers of the King are there, 
Arrows at their bows — 
Set to pierce the evil heart: 
How shouldst thou escape the smart? 

If thou enter, child of shame, 
Myrrh and mandrakes thou must bring; 
Thou must name His very Name: 
Trouble not the King." 

IV. 

Ah, the courts and porches white — 

Pillars set in rows! 
Ah, the roofs of silver bright 
Clean as driven snows! 
Sobbing: *'Lord, behold I wait! 
Wilt Thou not my grief abate? 

Meet for lion's food am I : 
Yet my sinking soul restore; 
Bid me enter ere I die : 
Open, Lord, the door!" 

V. 

"Nay," one cried: "Behold, the King 

"To His banquet goes! 
Clusters of the grape they bring. 

Soon the doors will close. 



148 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

All their mid-day labors done — 
Girt with robes of linen spun — 

Here His sons and daughters meet. 
Who shall mar their holy sport ? 

Yet, to hear their laughter sweet, 
Wait thou by the Court." 

VI. 

Swells the music through the night, 

As a sea it flows! 
Bloom the windows, full of light, 
Each a golden rose! 
Sorely weeping: ''Lord, I wait: 
*'l have heard Thy Love is great, — 
Hear me in Thine House of Rest. 
Lord, I love thee! Can I more? 
Let me die upon Thy Breast : 
Open, Lord, the door." 

VIL 

Answered still the voice: "Forbear! 

"Who shall heed thy w^oes?" 
In His banquet chamber fair 
Then the King uprose; 
To the sacred portal came : 
"One," He said, "has named My Name, 

At the outer gateway knocks. 
Heedless of the lion's roar :" — 
Set His hand upon the locks, — 
Opened wnde the door. 



DOORS OF OLIVE. 149 

VIII. 

Oh, the wonder of the sight! 
Three by three in rows, 
. Stood the soldiers clad in white. 
Arrows at their bows : 
In their midst a crowned One 
Clothed upon as with the sun. 
Who so lowly as the King? 
All the kisses of His mouth 
Are like odors of the Spring 
Blowing from the South! 



IX, 



Girt with rich pomegranate bowers, 

Snowed upon with snows, 
Olive doors in ivory towers, 
Chambers of repose! 
Boards of fir and cedar made. 
Spread with gold and overlaid; 

Lavers wrought with leaf and vine- 
Lily-work from brim to brim; 
Open flowers and carvings fine, 
Palms and cherubim! 

Northwestern Christian Advocate. 



150 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

A CHRISTIAN. 

[William Collins Jones, aged 66.] 

I. 

*'Show us a Christian that we may believe," — 
The young men mocked. Then from their 

midst one came: 
"Lord, be it mine to win that precious name ! 
I love thee : wilt thou not my love receive ?" 
Answered that Prince of Peace: 'Thyself be- 
reave 
That others may be fed; by furnace-flame 
Thrice-heated earn their bread; suffer no 
shame 
To touch the innocent ; for sinners grieve. 

So wilt thou bring me gold without al- 
loy, 
Spices and pleasant fruits and wines 
new-pressed. 
To prove thy love, God will thy flesh 
destroy, — 
With pangs unutterable thy patience 
test.'* 
Then lifted he his voice and sang for 
joy. 
So passed that Christian . . . Oh, 
to share his rest! 



FIELD AND GARDEN. 



FOOD-SEEKERS. 

I. 

A wide- winged butterfly, 
Upon the white flowers of a bitter weed 
Settled to satisfy his noon-day need. 

Through sunshine far and high 
His kindred wavered but he took no heed : 
Pretty it was to watch his dainty greed. 

II. 

A wondrous beetle came — 
All emerald green, save that upon his back 
There blazed a mimic sun; and in his track, 

Lured by the dazzling flame, 
A lace-wing fluttered— purple, gold and black. 
Of pleasure for them all there was no lack. 

III. 
Down dropped a bird that flies 
Near to the clouds yet perches for his seed 
And sings and sings God's little choir to lead. 

I lifted up mine eyes: 
"Dear Lord, Thy fragile creatures richly feed! 
Content me, also, with Thy bitter weed." 
The Youth's Compamon. 
Poets and Poetry of Buffalo. 



152 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

THE SENSITIVE BRIER. 

[A procumbent perennial, American genus 
Schrankia, found on the rolling prairies of 
Kansas and other southeastern states. Be- 
cause of the exceeding loveliness and unsur- 
passable fragrance of its flowers, it is popu- 
larly known as The Sensitive Rose.] 



When sweetly breathed the budded rose 
In new-made majesty and grace, 
Did not the Master for a space 
A holy stillness interpose, — 

Forbidding any wind to brush 
Her clasping petals? . . . Ere they stirred 
While yet her whispered name, half-heard, 
Sank silenced in that heavenly hush, 
Did He not turn to fashion thee, 
O, babe-like flower! and smile to see, — 
Deep-musing on the Christ to be? 

II. 

Pales in thy woof the rainbow^s red ; 
Her gold adorns the raveled veils 
Where-through thy blessed breath exhales; 

Her lucid dews are on thee shed. 

So sweet! so sweet! — The beds of spice 



ONE OF MANY. 153 

Whereon our fair, first mother slept, 

No daintier drops of honey kept 
To feed the bees of Paradise. 

Lo, where thy shrinking leaves retreat 
At coming of the sinner's feet ! 
Yet will thy soft forgivings greet. 

III. 

Ah, if the Lowly One might pass 
And yonder blowing roses all 
Their fragrant loveliness let fall 
To cushion smooth the thickening grass. 
How would I haste thyself to choose 
From all the pure! and lifting high 
These most abundant blossoms, sigh : 
"Thou who canst virtue give nor lose, 
With whom the burdened ones find 

rest, — 
The while I touch thy seamless vest, 
Gaze but on these and I am blest 1" 

Truth. 



ONE OF MANY. 

Behold a silver-glistening track 
Across this freshet-furrowed sand. 
Where crept a worm not long ago, 
Straightforward, never turning back, 



154 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Discerning neither friend nor foe! 
Called to iiprear some temple grand, 
Some miracle-work serenely planned — 

World-masonry where all was wrack! — 

This way he passed : And dragging so 
His length (renovvned for movement slack!), 
Far as a spider's thread might blow 
He many an inch of empire spanned. . . . 
Not less the nestlings make demand, 
For singing birds must nothing lack. 

And worms are dull — oh, dull and slow! 
But if he perished v.^ho can know,— 
Or why he perished understand? 



FLOWERS AND A WEED. 



In my garden there grew the Sweet-Pea, fair 
to see! 
Hardly sweeter in Eden can be 
The scent of the blossoms that heal. 
Wing, banner and keel guard and hold the fine 
gold 
That it will not reveal 
Till you kneel and make search for the treas- 
ures untold, 
While you reel 
As you feel 



FLOWERS AND A WEED. 1 55 

How the pure odors steal 
Through the brain with a subtle soft 

power 
From the wee fairy-bower of the flower! 
There my grave Salpiglossis, dear Quaker, did 
make her 
A drab satin gown ; 
Yet could not quite keep the shy rose-color 
down 
When the fleet breeze did shake her. 
Flamed in red my Dianthus; 
My long-tube Centranthus 
Wore exquisite pink like the tint of a shell : 
But she paled while you gazed, as refusing 
to tell 
W^ith too ardent a glow 
W^hat was throbbing below 
In that virginal heart, — though you loved 
her right well! 
And under 
That wonder 
The babe Gilia-tricolor sunned her ; 
Secure in blest innocence, creeping from 

shade, 
Faced the Lord in His firmament, no- wise 
afraid ! 
And I said: 'T will cede 
"To no vagabond weed. 
An inch of the soil that the Beautiful need. 
Let them march on the highways, 
Or slink through the by-ways, — 



156 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Poor hoboes and beggars the world has 

agreed. 
/ think they are anarchists — dreadful of 

deed !" 

II. 

Saw you ever the green earth on fire with 
desire 
To be one with the things that aspire? 
With the red-bird that burns as he flies? 
With brave and bright spirits of grace, 
cleaving space 
On their way to the skies 
Where the orbits of comet and star inter- 
lace? 
Even so 
You will know 
How Nasturtiums a-glow 
Their manifold splendors up-bore 
As flames when the furnaces roar. 
Yet, engirt with those heats — vision-dazing, 
out-blazing 
The suns where they set, 
Unhurt, cool with dew, dwelt my meek Mig- 
nonette, 
Rich in virtues past praising! 
Near by, wnth her spices, 
The Pink, that entices. 
Sent many a blithe, honey-sipper away 
Half-drunken, wing-heavy and reeling 
astray. 



FLOWERS AND A WEED. I57 

Not the less, had a blight 
Swept all these in the night, 
Left them bloodless and budless, bent, sod- 
den and gray, 
One flower 
In that hour 
Had not needed to tremble and cower : 
Oh, still had my garden a Paradise seemed, 
While, fragrance-diffusing, my Violet 
dreamed ! 
"They must die !" was my creed. 
**Who my darlings impede! — 
The Red-root, the Jimpson of poisonous 
breed, 
The Sand-burr you handle 
With dread and that scandal 
The yellow-faced Nettle that stabs till you 

bleed !— 
Each far-trampling, grass-trampling, Coxey- 
ite weed! 



III. 



There my Heliotrope like a saint, death-faint 
Feared that radiant azure to paint 
Where Faith sees Love's mansion of rest; 
Yet for all her pale doubting did bear, un- 
aware, 
A Heaven in her breast; 
And we leaned and we longed in that 
Heaven to share. 



158 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Be your quest 
East or West 
You will bid not a guest, 
To your banquet of flowers, who will 

dare 
Wear the hues of my Phlox, past com- 
pare: 
As if sunrise itself had descended and blended 
Its cinnabar-red 
That fades, througli all shades till the last 
blush has fled — 
In a snow-dazzle ended, 
But as for my Pansies, 
Though I tossed you the stanzas — 
Chrysalides bursting with fancies more 

bright 
Than great August butterflies, basking in 
light— 
I could never report 
Half the beautiful sport 
Of their violet, crimson, bronze, orange and 
white ! 
Hov\' bluing, 
Imbruing 
Their petals in purple, accruing 
Elf-gold from the underworld vastness, they 

hid 
To keep safe from my murderous clutch 
(oh, they did!), 
Just one of that breed 
To aversion decreed, 



FLOWERS AND A WEED. 1 59 

Out of muddy, low places crept in at his 
need ! 
Nay! his wretched coat flaunting, 
His poverty vaunting — 
Up-stood with the lovely, their dancing to 

lead, 
That saucy, intrusive, small scamp of a 
Weed! 



IV. 



Him I spied out at last — bending down with 
a frown: 
Behold, the bold brows of the clown 
Wore the crown of a heritage true ! 
Flowers of heavenly hue — oh, he dared to 
be seen 
Jeweled only with dew ! 
Though here smiled an empress and there 
laughed a queen 
And he knew 
The winds blew 
Through his rags with a whew! 
But out of those jewels shot sparks 
As of planets that light up the darks 
After sunset, when little ones, turning their 
yearning 
Wide eyes to the skies. 
Discerning, say softly: *'God's great angel 
flies 
"And sets His lamps burning!" 



l6o RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Ah, Nature, most loyal, 
Proclaimed her tramp royal, — 
His Most Serene Highness (ten titles be- 
side!) : 
Scoff not ! lest the King of all kings you de- 
ride ! 
"Thrive here with the rest, 
Honored, loved as the best;" 
So I wept : "When I bloom where the Holy 
abide, 
"White-growing, 
Peace knowing, 
In God's very presence out-blowing, 
Should some of His Seraphim happen my 

way 
And see me — a sinner, yet crowned — they 
will say : 
"Lo, He suffers a weed 
With His fair ones to feed ! 
All its poison drained out when He caused 
it to bleed, — 
With a tender, sweet daring. 
Its firm roots up-tearing! 
Now, set in His garden, what more can it 

need? 
For He loves it ! He loves it ! He planted 
the seed!" 

Kansas State Social Science Federation 
Booklet. 



DULCISSIM^. 



SPIRIT OF BENEDICTION. 
[Jane W. Kendall, Providence, R. L] 



Oh, Love must lay her viol down 

To silence wed, 
Wan Life put off her starry crown. 
Lost earth forego all dear renown, 
Beloved, if thou art dead! 

IL 

Thou wert the flower of friendliness, 

Of tender ruth 
That will not any evil gness. 
Of charity that yearns to bless, 
Of holy-hearted truth. 

III. 

Will God thy Heart of Hope deny, — 

Slay Love's desire? 
Lo, where thy pure dove-offerings fly ! 
Thine altar gifts with spikenard lie 
A-smoke in fervent fire! 



1 62 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

IV. 

Sweet, when we pass as spirits may, 

Through skies all clear, 
Turn first, the face we knew, our way, 
That we may weep for joy and say: 
Behold, our friend is here! 

V. 

Then smile and all thine angel-grace 

To us reveal : 
So lead us to thy chosen place, 
The while thy clinging arms embrace, 
Thy lips our welcome seal. 

Providence Journal. 



AN EVANGELIST. 

[Melissa Lendrum Johnson, Traverse City, 
Mich.] 

I. 

Ah, lovely advocate of good, 

Sweet pleader in the house of prayer, 

Strong heart of gracious womanhood. 
Wife, m.other, neighbor — prone to share 
Our griefs and half our burdens bear, — 



AN EVANGELIST. 1 63 

11. 

Frail helper of the tempest-tossed, 
Who guided many a wandering soul 

From desert ways by torrents crossed, 
To where the healing waters roll 
That make the loathsome leper whole, — 

III. 

Thou wert like Martha, serving much! 
No less, like Mary, thou didst choose 

The Master's seamless robe to touch. 
Low at his feet to hear and muse 
And all thyself in him to lose! 

IV. 

Beloved inheritor of grace: 
Thou art uplifted now so far, 

Thy lamp that lights celestial space 
Shines as a new-created star 
Where God's eternal glories are. 

V. 

Well didst thou keep it trimmed and fed 
Through many years — till one drew nigh : 

*'Behold, the bridegroom comes," he said; 
And gladness ran from earth to sky 
When, leading thee, the Lord passed by. 



164 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

VI. 

''Henceforth they from their labors rest.'* 
Look down, O, joyful saint, and see 

How with his words of comfort blest, 
Our dearest solace still shall be 
To love him more for loving thee. 

Memorial Booklet. 



VICTIM AND VICTOR. 

[A. S. C, author of a lost poem entitled 
**His Bitter Wine," of which the three lines 
italicized herein are the only ones remembered.] 



I. 



Racked and rent and sick at heart, 

Sang a beauteous friend of mine : 
"Let my youth and strength depart,- 

All Life's sweetness I resign; 
While His w^ell-beloved sup. 

Leaning on the breast divine, 
If he reach to me the cup, 

/ can drink His hitter wine." 



VICTIM AND VICTOR. 165 

11. 

Ah, the long, red script of pain. 

Traced in heart's blood line by line! 
Subtly sent through every vein 

Went the treacherous anodyne, — 
Blighting sense and crazing thought. 

Sobbed that bruised friend of mine: 
"Shall He trouble me for nought? 

/ can choose His hitter zvine/' 

III. 

Fleeing from the fires of doom, 

On her flesh their blackening sign, 
Where the silent waters gloom, ^ 

Sank that broken friend of mine. 
Saw me trembling on the brink ; 

Whispered from the gulfing brine : 
"He has given me to drink: 

/ can bless His bitter wine." 

IV. 

Afterward I slept : One came 

Clad in silver raiment fine: 
In my dream I named her name : 

"Beautiful! O, friend of mine! 
Is it well with thee?" I said^ 

"Lo, upon the breast divine 
Well-beloved I lean my head! 

Fear not thou His bitter wine.'* 



1 66 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

ONE MERCIFUL. 
[Hattie Monroe, South Haven, Mich.] 

I. 

Sweet as the honey with the honey-comb 
Were all thy works, O, friend for whom we 
grieve ! 

Heart of compassion, angel of the home, — 
Fulfilling more than duty morn and eve : 

Samaritan who went abroad to see 

If any by the w^ayside needed thee! 

H. 

Thou who wert great of heart shall greater 
grow, 

And still the larger life include the less. 
Though seas go dry and rivers cease to flow. 

Yet will not memory fail nor tenderness. 
Envy and wrath must die : Love only shares 
Eternal life with Him whose name she bears. 

HI. 

Though round thee suns innumerable blaze. 
Though sether breathe out flowers thy smiles 
to woo. 

Though many a happy spirit cross thy ways 
And kiss thy lips as we were wont to do. 

Pity will turn thee back to seek thine own, 

Lest grief of theirs should be to thee unknown. 



HIS MINISTER. 1 67 

IV. 

Nay! Heavenward pass! But in some holy 
calm 
The Word shall come and thou wilt sweetly 
heed : 
"Daughter, behold thy Loved, dispensing balm ! 

Visit thou them and consecrate the deed." 
Then wilt thou weeping answer: ''Lord, I go! 
'Thou knowest I love them: grant they too 
may know!" 



HIS MINISTER. 
[Lydia Alden.] 

L 

"Should any spirit chance my way 
Upon some saving errand bent. 

And smile across and wave her hand — 
Pass as the wind nor dare to stay, 
Therewith I would be well content, 

Would wait and rest and understand," — 
I mused : but nothing could I say ; 
For as a ruined blossom, rent 

From God's great rose-tree, on the sand 
I lay within the washing tide — 
The strip all narrow, seas all wide! 
If He had sent His messenger 
Abroad, I could but look for her. 



1 68 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

II. 

Not through the airy void she came, 
From out the star-engendering blue, — 
Beside me verily she stood! 
As in a dream I knew her name 

And well her human sweetness knew, — 
That beauty of her maidenhood, 
The red-rose blush — Love's hallowed flame, 
The lips whose laughters breaking through 
Made bitter sweet and evil good. 
Upon the drifting thing she gazed, 
Brought back the flower none else had praised. 
By miracle to breathe and stir — 
So gathered to the heart of her. 

III. 

And oh, the wide, white brow upraised 
For giving thanks, while dark as night 

Lapsed the long billow victimless. 
Once more for me the sunlight blazed, — 
Set in a cup of malachite 

As there were still some loveliness. 
But she, full soon, with glory dazed 
(For she was precious in His sight!). 
Rose up, laid by her mortal dress. 
Put on the garment beautiful — 
More white than thrice-white fuller's wool — 
And so became God's minister .... 
But long, oh, long, I watch for her! 



THE LIFE BEAUTIFUL. 169 

I 

THE LIFE BEAUTIFUL. 

[Harriet Permelia Jones, aged 74-] 

I. 

O, thou whose courage, Heaven-imbued, 
Was like the wind-blown cedar strong, 
Who toiled with patience unsubdued 

Nor grieved nor made complaint of wrong, 
Who asked no meed of gratitude 

Though tasks were hard and service long, — 
Well might we search our hearts to see 
If there some worthiness might be, — 
Loaded with benefits from thee! 



n. 

Thou didst not search nor seem to know 

If any failed in thankfulness; 
Returning yet again to show 

Some way of making labor less, 
And without recompense bestow 
Nor ever weariness confess. 

Beloved, art thou content to be 
Where all are happy, safe and free 
And none have any need of thee? 



I/O RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

III. 

No widowed mother to sustain? 
No hunger-vvolf to keep at bay 
From helpless orphans? Nought to gain 

For others ? — Lo, but yesterday 
One passed through all the floods of pain! 
Didst thou not meet him on the way? 
And did he not cry out to thee : 
**0, sister, thou art fair to see! 
And art thou come to comfort me?" 



IV. 



Ah, well we know if thou dost pass, 

Unchanged, to where the heavens are bowed 
While those beside the sea of glass 

Cast down their crowns and cry aloud. 
Thou canst but choose the paths of grass 
Where children walk in wind and cloud! 
Since Love that doth encompass thee 
Is deeper than the deepest sea. 
What thou desirest — that shall be. 



FRIENDS REMAINING. 

I. 

Long time have I traveled this round-the-world 

road; 
Long time I have carried this wearisome load : 
But why do these friends whom I happen to 
meet 
Reach out, as in pity, my steps to steady, 
And softly the comforting phrases repeat 
Folk use when they know there is evil to bode ? 
Why bring me the callas and violets sweet 
As though I were dead already? — al- 
ready. 

XL 

I know where the wasp and the bumble-bee dip 
In red and white clover — there blissfully sip; 
I know where the humming-birds flicker 
and drink 
That nectar of Hebe, honeyed and heady : 
What then? — Am I one to be frighted and 
shrink ? — 
Though a carnival-masquer my raiment should 
grip 
(I chancing to pause!) : 'Tass along! One 
would think 
You had lodged with the dead already !" — 
already. 



172 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

III. 

Ah, Beloved! — Will you tremble with wonder 

and fear 
To find me at rest?~Will you shudder and 
veer 
And follow the mummers from temple to 
mart ? 
Nay! How should your pulses be feeble 
and thready, 
So fed and so filled from a generous heart! 
You have counseled me, cherished me, given 
me cheer, 
Have praised me and loved me as that were 
a part 
Of your creed and I dead already! — al- 
ready. 

IV. 

Were I verily dead what could hinder to say? 
In a fleet caravel I should voyage away, 

To a golden, great Continent cry "All hail !" 

But oh, should there be some returning, 

swift eddy. 

Some swerve of the helm or some trick of 

the sail, 

Whereby I might float back — yea, enter the 

bay! — 
While we smiled on each other God's peace 
would prevail 
As though you were dead already ! — already. 

May 23, 1905. 



THE HEREAFTER. 



HIS VOICE. 



[Porter Jones, 2nd N. Y. Mounted Rifles.] 
I. 

In those most grievous years 
When cradled babes woke with the shock of 

drums 
And Hsteners mourned : ''So close the danger 
comes, 
"Our best beloved, even ours, must go!" 
Mine also went : — For what are women's 
tears 
That fear of them should work a nation 
woe? 
But I, in forests deep 
Where the wake-robin, smiling still ap- 
pears 
White-rosy after melting of the snow, 
Hid me with birds that in the shadow keep, 
Since mine it is to sing while others weep. 

II. 

There slowly news blew in 
Like thistle-seeds full softly taking root 
To wound forevermore the naked foot 
Of any school-boy rambler and to make 



174 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

The blushing flower he covets hard to 
win, 
But so it chanced that once, at dawn 
awake, — 
Thrilled with a soul-sent cry- 
That rent this robe of flesh worn all too 
thin— 
I rose up trembling: "Twice my name he 
spake ! 
"As I were by his bed I heard him sigh 
And knew his dying voice .... Ah, must he 
die?" 



III. 



"Answer and comfort me," 
Long after whispered I, and wept and wept : 
Then were the clouds from my dull eyeballs 
swept. 
Saw T, within the deep, disparted sky 

An army moving like a glittering sea . . . 
He, leaping from the ranks with hand flung 
high 
As victor's signal-flame 
And happy mouth where kisses well might 
be. 
Me had he kissed, — his legions half gone by 
(Did I not hear his voice that named my 

name?) 
But earth plucked back my soul and darkness 
came. 



AT FIRST. 



AT FIRST. 



175 



I. 

If I should fall asleep one day, 

AH over-worn, 
And should my spirit from the clay 
Go dreaming out the Heavenward way, 
Or thence be softly borne,— 

II. 

I pray you angels do not first 

Assail mine ear 
With that blest anthem oft [^hearsed: 
^Behold, the bonds of death are burst! 
Lest I should faint with fear. 

III. 
But let some happy bird at hand 

The silence break : 
So shall I dimly understand ^ 

That dawn has touched a blossommg land 
And sigh myself awake. 

IV. 

From that deep rest emerging so, 

To lift the head 
And see the bath-flower's bell of snow 
The pink arbutus and the low 
Spring-beauty streaked with red. 



176 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

V. 

Will all suffice; no otherwhere 

Impelled to roam. 
Till some blithe wanderer, passing fair, 
Will smiling pause — of me aware — 

And murmur : "W^elcome Home !" 



VI. 

So sweetly greeted I shall rise 

To kiss her cheek, 
Then lightly soar in lovely guise. 
As one familiar with the skies 
Who finds and need not seek. 

The Century Magazine. 

Poets and Poetry of B^iffalo. 



AFTERWARD. 

I. 

I shall not find the heavens too bright, 

O, Loved, my Friend! 
When to thine islands of delight, 
Angelic, swift and clear of sight, 
Exultine J ascend. 



AFTERWARD. 1 77 

II. 

There swimming in a silver space 

Unharmed of heat, — 
Their nodding flowers shall do us grace. 
Nay! suns must swerve to give us place 
When face to face we meet! 



III. 



Ah, then into the deep, dead Past, 

We two will sink ! 
Will clutch and hold each other fast, — 
Climb up from that salt sea at last, 

Stand trembling on the brink ! 



IV. 



Peer far into the dim abyss, 

Laugh out to find 
Not even earth may roll amiss! . . 
Turn round and with a clinging kiss 
Blend heart and soul and mind. 



V. 



Balsams and mints beneath our feet 

With violets white, 
A singing sound where thrushes meet 
Shall with the blowing winds make sweet 
Our islands of delight. 



178 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

VI. 

And they who come and go, or yet 

In peace abide, 
Will as the prophets shine — who met 
Our sorrowing Brother, ere was set 
The cross whereon he died. 

VII. 

We too shall glistening raiment wear, 

Exceeding white .... 
Lo, yet I breathe this desert air! 
Their prey the ravening lions tear, — 
/ swooning at the sight! 

1890. 



THEIR HEAVENLY HOUSE. 

I. 

No star among the stars can be 

More swift in flight 
Than is my ransomed soul set free: 
Through aether speeding far I see 
A world with summits w^hite. 



THEIR HEAVENLY HOUSE. 179 

11. 

Thither I soar: — Up-swings amain 

Its morning sun! 
Through seven fair colors laughs the rain : 
I ween that is a beauteous plain 
Where yonder rivers run ! 

III. 

Down traveling as one in haste, 

By crag and mere, 
I brush the dewy mosses, laced 
With balmy plants of wood and v/aste 
(On earth I held them dear!) : 

IV. 

Small eye-bright, creeping princess-pine, 

Pure coolwort pale, 
Striped dragon-root and partridge-vine, 
With slim, red-yellow columbine 
That roots in crumbling shale. 

V. 

Here by the slipping falls I glean 

The bell-flower blue, 
Here snowy mandrakes look and lean, 
As searching for the hollows green 

Where first they drank the dew, — 



l80 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

VI. 

What time, a child, I passed their way 

And all the vale 
Was cool with shade and flying spray 
That set the jewel-weed a-sway — 
So tall it was and frail. 

VII. 

Lo, here the drooping heeches hide 

Their giant brakes, 
And here the alder trees divide, 
Where babbling mountain brooks make wide 
The white-emblossomed lakes. 

VIII. 

Far-spreading to the level skies, 

Here, drift on drift. 
Red meadow-lilies sink and rise. 
For many a humming creature flies 
And Summer gales are swift. 

IX. 

A's doubtful of the way I turn, — 

Behold, above. 
Pellucid domes as bubbles burn! 
To reach that Holy House I yearn, 
I tremble — sick of love! 



THEIR HEAVENLY HOUSE. 151 

X. 

There two abide in deep content: 

Soft sounds there be 
Where late their choral music went, 
Whose mountain-echoes, all unspent, 
Are like a singing sea. 

XL 

O, hark ! Within a raptured cry : 

''She comes, full fair, 
Who heard, at night, the Master sigh 
And whispered, grieving : 'Here am I ! 
With me thy sorrows share!' 

XII. 

''Oft with her burdens overweighed, 

Where snares abound. 
Erring and sinful — deep afraid, 
She followed him whom men betrayed. 

And pierced with many a wound. 

XIII. 

"Arise! His well-beloved greet, — 

Long needing rest! 
Has he not named our daughter sweet 
As flowers that kissed his wandering feet — 
In whom we too are blest ?" 



1 82 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

XIV. 

Not less I weeping answer: "Nay! 

"These many years, 
Save for your footprints in the clay 
I had not kept the narrow way!" . . 
Fast fall their happy tears ! 

Kansas PV Oman's Press Association. 



WITHOUT THE GATES. 

I. 

When, new^ in Heaven, I turn aside 

From friends long dear, 
And where the starry paths divide 
Within a holy shadow hide 

And to my Lord draw near, — 



II. 



Late mountain climber, sore distressed, 

Torn hands and feet, 
Lo, as a babe upon His breast, 
Rest, rest, immeasurable rest 
Will be my portion sweet! 



WITHOUT THE GATES. 183 

III. 

As a full river Peace will flow : 

Till satisfied 
I sigh : *'Thy bliss I faintly know : 
*'Give me no less to share thy woe. 
And with thy lost abide." 

IV. 

Thence passing — evermore to be 

His messenger — 
How will His darkness cover me! 
O, leper most abhorred ! to thee 
My love shall minister, — 



Even to the uttermost of grief, 

Than death more dread :^ 
Till thou — of sinful ones the chief — 
Full sorely weeping, past belief, 
Shalt from the tombs be led. 

VI. 

Behold, without the city-gates 

The Master stands 
And thy desired coming waits ! 
There shalt thou pluck the honeyed dates 
With healed and hallowed hands, — 



184 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

VIL 

His words, throngh many a flowery place 

Repeating oft : 
A happy, happy child of grace, — 
Caressing winds upon thy face 
And infant-kisses soft. 

VIII. 

Hewer of sepulchres, make wnde 

The doorways dim, 
Where outcasts lurk whom men deride, 
There will my Lord and I abide : — 
I shall be safe with Him. 



A FLOWER OF PARADISE. 

''Nozif a phantasy, 
A simple shape, an image of the brain, 
Is merely passive, docs not retroact. 
Is seen hut sees not." 

Elizabeth Barrett Brozvning. 

I. 

Long since, ere the bloom of my youth went 

by, 

The hand of a spirit was on me laid : 
''Look now on the sun, nor be dismayed. 



A FLOWER OF PARADISE. 185 

It rocks ! It pales ! — By the symbol high, 
The lord of the household soon must die." 



11. 



Again (and now with a soft command) : 
"He has left his work ere the day is done; 
He drops from his place as a falling sun. 
Let there be no mourning in all the land 
While God, for your father, puts forth His 
hand. 

HI. 

*'To give him a welcome they gather afar 
On the mount where the chanting harpers 

meet, — 
The brothers he loved and the sisters sweet 
The sires who wander from star to star. 
The mothers who stay where the cherubim are, 



IV. 



''With the sun-bright boy and the babes that 
first 
He kissed, when the loves and thoughts of 

them 
Were like rills that a fallen leaf could stem, 
Ptire waters, dripping where rocks had burst 
When The Father pitied his father-thirst." 



1 86 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

V. 

Then sank my soul in a sobbing flood 
(The grief of the young is a bitter sea!) : 
Till I sighed : "If only there fell on me — 
A trembling creature of flesh and blood — 
From the flowers of his Eden, a single bud!" 

VI. 

Down dropped my lids, as a friend had pressed, 
And a great light spread! (Let no one say 
That the Lord walks not in the cool of the 
day; 
For I verily know that a Christian blest 
Might pass, in that light, to his glad, long 
rest!) : 

VIL 

And out of ineffable silence came 

A child, who moved as the lilies will, 
In a holy gravity, white and still : 
Her eyes held mine: *'Is your love the same? 
"Did you know me once? Can you name my 
name?" 

VIIL 

Then my heart sprang up as a sun had burst, 
While the bergs of an ice-world, sinking 

deep, 
Forever and ever were sent to sleep : 



A FLOWER OF PARADISE. 187 

*'0, Mary ! Mary !— the glory first, 
Then thou ... and the river to quench his 
thirst!" 

IX. 

How sure is the peace of the undefiled! 
As all my sins were a sealed book 
She looked on me as the seraphs look ; 
But the face where-through her spirit smiled, 
Was the dimpled face of an earth-born child. 



X. 



A rain fell into the new-made grave 

Where deep in the dust that dust was laid : 
Was ever a blossom that would not fade ? — 

Away on the hills God's banners wave . . . 

But oh, the smile and the look she gave! 

XL 

Turn thou and see— though the eyes be dim- 
The babes, the brothers and sisters far, 
The sires who travel from star to star, 
The sun-bright boys who are fleet of limb, 
The mothers who stay with the cherubim. 



1 88 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL. 



AMERICA : ELECT AMONG NATIONS. 

I. 

Now who are these thronging thy gate? 

One knocks at thy door : 
"Behold, where my multitudes wait! 

They hunger and great is thy store! 
They have drunk of the fountai.iS of salt 

Where the red lions breed; 
They are leprous and fevered and halt, 

They are humbled and bruised as the reed." 

Is not this the Master indeed f 

Foot-zi'eary and zvorn 

The heat of the day he has home: 
Wilt thou comfort all these in their need? 

XL 

Wert thou not cast up from the sea 

To a banquet of blood? 
And are there not balsams for thee, 

Magnolias and laurels in bud? 
Th}^ harvests — who reckons their worth? — 

Wheat and corn in the seed : 
For the armies that trample the earth 
Who numbers thy cattle that bleed ? 



AMERICA: ELECT AMONG NATIONS. 189 

Shall Christ for his desolate plead 
Nor move thee to bless F 
O, thou who art rich beyond guess. 

Turn back to thy records and read! 



III. 



Uplift them the Black and the Brown; 

Anoint the torn feet. 
Are they tronblers ? — of evil renown ? 

Yet cleanse them and they shall be sweet. 
Who murdered that Lover of Men? 

Not theirs was the deed. 
Should they wound thee in anger, what then ? 
He calls thee : O, serve him with speed ! 

Stand forth in thy beauty and feed 

His Poor unashamed. 

Full szveetly thy name shall be named 
And who shall thy glory exceed! 
The Outlook. 



190 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

THE SAVING OF AN EMPIRE. 

Inscribed to John Hay, U. S. Secretary of 
State. 

I. 

Said one among his counselors : 
'*My soul the battle-creed abhors : 

Yet to be Czar indeed, 
My neighbor's hate must I provoke, 
Lay on Manchuria my yoke — 

Cleave China for my need." 

Hearkened the angel of the yellow seas: 
''And if thou plunder these — 

God's aneient, foolish, well-beloved folk — 
Canst thou His wrath appease?'* 

II. 

*'! sicken with desire," quoth he: 
"Needs must I reach the open sea, 

Drink up its winds like wine, — 
Send round my armored ships of oak 
To meet my rushing trains a-smoke, 

And make its harbors mine!" 

Answered the angel of the lesser seas : 

''Armed are the Japanese, 
Jealous and fierce, a mighty Island-folk: 

And wilt thou slaughter these f' 



THE SAVING OF AN EMPIRE. IQl 

III. 

*'GoD keep our fatherland from wars!" 
Spake one among his counselors: 

"But tell me what prevents 
That I, on China's coast, evoke 
My world-defying thunder-stroke 

And stretch abroad my tents?" 

Sighed the great angel set to guard the seas : 
''That thou niayst pillage these? 

Break in upon the homes of humble folk 
And kill their honey-bees^ 



IV. 

*'Nay! but they spurn the Christ!" said he*. 
"The blood of martyrs calls to me ! 

Hear ye my just decrees : 
Lead in my ships, their channels choke, 
And where Confucius loved and spoke 

Their holy city seize!" 

''Howbeit to thee they, loathing, bend the 
knees, 

They worship whom they please: 
And dear to God are all His sinful folk; 

Art thou more just than these?'' 



192 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 



Spake one far off : "O, Counselors, 

"Plague not the weak with wounds and wars 

And ravenings ill to meet! 
Through open doorways Peace invoke; 
Speak, as of old, the Master spoke, 

And win a welcome sweet." 

Cried the strong angel of the sheltered seas : 

''Come ye mid comfort these 
With righteous traffic till the busy folk 

Laugh out and live at ease" 

VI. 

Again from far: "O, emperors, 
"Whose armies in a war of wars 

Your crimsoning flags unfold, — 
Albeit God's holy truce ye broke 
See that ye wield no thunder-stroke 

To cleave His empire old." 

Chanted the angel of the embattled seas: 

"Russian and Japanese — 
War if ye must hut spare His pagan folk 

Who strive their dead to please." 

VII. 

Among his pallid counselors 
One sighs : "Their greed the earth abhors, 
"Who haste to seize and hold. 



THE SAVING OF AN EMPIRE. 193 

Alas! and who shall lift the yoke 
From Russia's poor? — their bareness cloak? 
Crush their revoltings bold?" 

Sorrowed that angel of the drowning seas : 

''Corruption faints the breeze. 
By fort and hill who counts the slaughtered 
folk? 

What sunken ships are these?" 



VIII. 

O, thou, beside thy broken wall, 
An opium-slumberer held in thrall, 

Great-limbed and dull of sight, 
Rise, China! Not in battle-smoke 
Christ comes .... Be thine his easy yoke 

And thine his burden light. 

Sings the white angel treading down the seas : 

''Nezu wine or bitter lees, 
Lo, God shall give to all His mighty folk 

As they shall give to these!" 



194 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 



FORT RILEY. 



Through the efforts of General Philip Henry 
Sheridan, a tract of 20,000 acres along the Re- 
publican and Smoky Hill Rivers, Kansas, was 
set aside by Congress in 1886 as a perpetual 
training-ground for a National School of 
Cavalry and Artillery. This tract includes Col. 
Ogden's monument, which stands exactly upon 
the geographical center of the United States. 



I. 



Where the prairies under a zenith white 

Through the golden flowers of the 
"Sunny State," 

Have opened their wildering paths of Hght 
To the inmost heart of a nation great, 
The hills for the trampling squadrons wait. 



11. 



Left bare in the billowy movements grand 
When the gods that rise from a fiery tide 

Beneath the roof of the crusted sand — 

Rocking the earth with their clamberings 
wide — 

Went shoving and shouldering seas aside, — 



FORT RILEY. 1 95 

III. 

They stand a-Jaze in a glimmer of smoke 
Through a luminous ether soaring high, 

From the dusky thickets of elm and oak 

On guard where the calm, blue rivers lie, 
To the gray rock-brows that front the eye. 

IV. 

O, soldiers — loved by a soldier great — 

Ere the night-like shadow of war obscures, 

Ride in to your home through a golden gate. 
For the nation's inmost heart is yours 
As long as the heart of the world endures ! 



Yours, when the winds are fleet and sharp. 
That out of the ice-cold countries blow. 

When you gallop abreast over valley and scarp 
And follow the flight of the powdered 

snow, 
To scatter the lines of a phantom foe; 

VI. 

Yours when the hurrying springs return 

And up from the low^-land creeps the fire, 

While the withered sun-flowers crackle and burn 
And all in a blossoming glory aspire 
To the star-sown realm of their long 
desire; 



196 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

VII. 

Yours when the boughs of the red-bud glow 

In the mossy ravines where the thrushes 

sing, ^ 

Where the pink wood-sorrels and daisies grow 

And the fair-faced flowers of the compass 

swing 
On the slopes where the jubilant larks up- 
spring; 

VIII. 

Yours when the yucca lifts her head, 

As a princess might, while the troops go 
past, 

And the sensitive-roses and mallows — red 
As a patriot's life-blood oozing fast, 
Are under the hoofs of your horses cast! 



IX. 



But what of the heir of a Roman name — 
The young Republic stately and proud. 
Whose sons were swathed in a garment of 
flame. 
What time the head of the prophet was 

bowed 
And the Lord rode by in the thick, black 
cloud ? 



FORT RILEY. 1 97 

X. 

And what of the people first and last — 

Saxon and Norman — Puritan-bred, 
Huguenot — whirled in a devil's blast, 

When Charles looked out and the night 

was red 
And his beautiful cities were heaped with 
dead? 

XL 

Peasant and anarchist, prince and serf 

(Cargo of sinking ships out-thrown!), 
African — tramping a blood-soaked turf, 
* Drift of the continents overgrown, 
Dust of the Orient hitherward blown! 

XIL 

When the toppling monarchies crashing fall 
(The world a-weary of purple state!) 

When the empire-gulfing waters all 

Up-gathering, tower in an eagre great, 
And Madness rides on the waves elate, — 

XIIL 

Far over the Freeman's country hurled : 
O, soldiers, loved by a chieftain tried 
As the mighty gods of the underworld 

(With the people beneath in a fiery tide), 
Arise and shoulder the seas aside! 

America. 



198 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

HAWAII. 

A Recognized Republic, Feb., 1894. 

I. 

« 

''Let the zuaters divide/' said the Lord in His 
power, 
''And the Armament be:" 
Then rose a white mist hke the hly in flower, 

Where Hawaii, set free, 
(With His fire in her heart,) stood before Him 
that hour 
And gathered her islands up out of the 

sea: 
''As the rose they shall blossom/' said He. 



II. 

Be at peace, ye proud billows that haste to de- 
vour ; 
His Beloved is she! 
The rulers that trample the lilies in flower 

And their war-plagues decree, 
If they touch but Hawaii's gold borders shall 
cower : 
For out of the whirlwind His answer shall 

be 
When He spreadeth His light on the sea. 



"my IRISH." 199 

III. 

O, Hawaii, the sunrise is on thee this hour! 

Be it spoken of thee: 
"She hallows her beautiful mountains that 
tower 

Where the cloud-shadows flee; 
She is white in His sight as a lily in flower; 

As gardens of spices her islands shall be — 

Most sweet in the midst of the sea!" 

Overland Monthly. 



"MY IRISH." 

[In Reverent Memory of Victoria the Good.] 

I. 

"Now thanks to my Irish!" out-spake the 
great Queen : 
"Hot-hearted, courageous and knightly, 
Away marched their infantry, gallant of mien, 

And oh, but their troopers were sightly ! 
They crossed the wide sea wdiere the vessels 

careen. 
They faced the thick bolts of Death, speeding 
unseen, — 
Ah, how shall I honor them rightly? 



200 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

II. 

"So vast is the reach of my empire terrene, 
My snows, North and South ghmmer 
whitely : 
Tides laugh where my beautiful isles intervene, 

Suns garnish my continents brightly, 
Full blithely shall African harvesters glean : 
But alas, for the wounded and slain!" sighed 
the Queen : 
"And how shall I honor them rightly!" 



III. 



"Go pluck me the pride of your island-demesne, 
Child-wanderers gentle and sprightly! 

To pin on my breast where the little ones lean 
That comfort me daily and nightly. 

To them I will talk of my Irish who screen 

My throne at such cost, — they shall learn," 
said the Queen : 
"Of heroes and honor them rightly. 



IV. 



"Bring hither their bugler, too young for that 
scene 
Where War plowed the furrows un- 
sightly : 
Yet ever his bugle rang out clear and keen 



MY IRISH. 2011 



While, bleeding, he clung to it tightly. 
I will give him another of silvery sheen, 
And send the boy back to the front," smiled 
the Queen. 

"To prove that I honor him rightly. 



V. 



"God speed you, dragoon, fusilier and marine! 

Your lowliest soldier is knightly : 
With Roberts and Kitchener, — what do they 
mean 
Who speak of my Irish so lightly? 
No doubt but great Wellington, riding unseen, 
Went leading the ranks that are wearing the 
green : 
Shout, England and honor them rightly! 



VI. 



"Blow, blow, little bugler! your melody keen 

Oft sounded shall never ring tritely. 
Your bugle starts echoes from rock and ravine 

However you breathe in it slightly! 
Unscared sing the love-birds — their plumage 

they preen 
On the graves of My Irish : yet blow," spake 
the Queen, 
"Your music shall honor them rightly. 



202 RUEAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

VII. 

*'0, Ireland, so narrow the channel between 

The sea-^lls cross over it lightly! 
Your seeds have blown hither : See, deep in this 
green 
Your shamrock is blossoming whitely! 
Who says that I love not my Irish ? I ween 
It is little he knows of true love," quoth the 
Queen : 
"My heart breaks to honor them rightly !" 



AMERICA TO ENGLAND. 

[At Close of the South African War.] 

I. 

Hail, thou of whom false seers did prophesy 

Of late, upon the hills, with hands out- 
spread ! 
"Tremble, O, England ! Stretched athwart the 
sky, 

To drink thy blood the dragon War hath 
sped, 

To whom, erewhile, were knights and 
maidens fed: 

Tremble nor look for help. . . St. George 
is dead. 



AMERICA TO ENGLAND. 203 

II. 

"Lo, proud Assyria to her greatness wed, 

Wise Egypt and Phoenicia none descry! 
Call if thou wilt, — no sleeper lifts the head : 
It is the roaring lion makes reply. 
Greater thy fall as thou art built more 

high : 
Art thou not dying? Harken! thou shalt 
die!" 

TIL 
Rent were the mountains when the Lord passed 

by- . . , 

Up-rose the wild-haired warriors, Island- 
bred, 
Who crushed against the spears, hearts drain- 
ing dry 

To keep thee fair and free for whom they 
bled. 

They leaped to life from where they made 
their bed : 

They had been fierce and fell, — their 
ghosts were dread ! 



IV. 



"Britain, be these our sons, to carnage led, 
Full loud of voice and swift as hounds in 
cry? 



204 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

For thee must they the leopard's pathway 
thread 
While darkening heaven the bearded vul- 
tures hie? 
O, Sweet, our Mother! Thee should they 

deny, 
Ourselves would smite them, warring 
eye to eye! 

V. 

**What though thy wandering feet the jungle 

try 

Where close the tigress creeps, her young 

unfed, 

Fast shall they follow, lest thou sink and sigh 

Wounded, for-done, with many foes 

bested ! 
Content thee ! their's the toil : turn thou 

and spread 
Thy board with milk and flesh and sacred 
bread !" 

VL 

Hail, England! Thou to more than greatness 
wed ! 
As for thy martyrs, evermore they cry 
Before his face who did the wine-p^ess tread : 
*'Holy is He who gave us leave to die 
For our Beloved ! Far her doves shall fly 
And Mercy brood between the sea and 
sky." 



PANAMA. 205 

VII. 

Enriched with liHes shall thy years go by,— 

The TREE of trees thy shelter overhead: 
Behold, the leaves upon its branches high 

Are for the healing of the nations shed ! 

Twelve are its fruits — the purple and the 
red. 

Pluck thou and eat and be with sweetness 

fed. 



PANAMA : 

Home of the Dove-plant, or Holy Ghost Flower. 

L 

What time the Lord drew back the sea 

And gave thee room, slight Panama, 
"I will not have thee great," said He, 
But thou shalt bear the slender key 
Of both the gates I builded Me. 
And all the great shall come to thee 
For leave to pass, O, Panama ! 

[Flozmr of the Holy Ghost, white dove, 
Breathe szv^eetness zvhere He wrought in 
love!] 

H. 

His oceans call across the land ! 

''How long, how long, fair Panama, 
Wilt thou the shock of tides withstand, 



206 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Nor heed us, sobbing by the strand ? 
Set wide thy gates on either hand, 
That we may search through saltless sand 
May clasp and kiss, O, Panama! 

\_F lower of the deep-embosomed dove 
So should His mighty nations love!] 

III. 

Outpeal His holy temple-clocks ! 

It is thine hour, glad Panama : 
Now shall thy key undo the locks ; 
The strong shall cleave thy sunken rocks : 
Swung loose and floating from their docks, 
The world's white fleets shall come in flocks 
To thread thy straits, O, Panama! 
[Flcnuer of the tropics, snozuy dove, 
Forbid, unless they come in love.] 

IV. 

How feautiful is thy demesne! 

Search out thy wealth, proud Panama, 
Thy gold, thy pearls of silver sheen, 
Thy fruitful palms, thy thickets green, 
Load thou the ships that ride between: 
Attire thee as becomes a Queen, — 

The great ones greet thee, Panama. 
[FloTmr of the white and peaceful dove 
Let all •men pass who come in love.] 

The Century Magazine. 



A SONG OF PEACE. 207 

A SONG OF PEACE. 

I. 

From out the flowering lilac-tree 

A singing sound saluted me : 

I said: "Is that the wren?" 

Or bird or spirit, still the voice 

So made my leaping heart rejoice, 

I sang: ''Declare, my tongue and pen, 
''He comes! he comes! the Man of men!" 

11. 

And all the lilac-blossoms white 
Breathed out their odors of delight 

To gladden field and fen : 
While through enraptured spaces high 
Where war's reverberations die, 

One called: "Prepare! ye nations ten! 

"Behold he comes ! the Man of men !'' 

III. 

O, world, with blood of slaughter wet, 
Are not the vials emptied yet 

That deluge hill and glen ? 
Through smoke of human sacrifice. 
Still must the cry of pleading rise : 

"We knew that thou wilt come . . . but 

when ? 
Earth groans for thee, thou Man of 
men !" 



208 RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

IV. 

The listening lilacs white as snow 

That loveliness of him shall know : 
Sing low, enchanting wren. 

Lest we should lose some echo soft 

Swooning, reviving far aloft. 

Where, screened of God from mortal ken, 
Souls chant: ''Behold the Man of men!" 



V. 



No bursting bomb shall mar the feast ; 

No nation, as an hungered beast. 

Come snarling from the den; 

No armies, all dismembered, hear 

The shrieking wounded far and near; 
No wailing women answer then : 
When he shall come — the Man of men. 



VI. 

O, mourners, cover well your dead ! 
Into God's peace their souls have fled. 
Sw^eet, sweet, O, singing wren. 
Love's plenteous dews on vale and hill! 
There shall his lilies drink their fill ! 

Ah, crucify him not again! 

Behold, he comes ! the MAN^of men ! 

Kansas Federation of Women's Clubs. 



FINIS. 



In the uttermost hour, zvhen the singing is done 

(For a poet must slumber!) and over the sun 

Fall the veils of the firmanient, one by one, — 

Nozif fell me, all ye zvho are wise and 

young 
(The bell, oh, the bell hath a silver tongue 
When the blithe hand pulls!), may zve 

hear among 
Those far-away echoes a luord out-flung: 
^'Let the spinning-wheel rest, for the fleece is 
spun : — 
What song hath the whirling spindle 
sungr 

11. 

When, robed as the lilies, the noble and fair 

Pass on to the crowning — the cardinals there 

In their hats (but the head of the King is 

bare!), — 

Nozv tell me, all ye who are foolish and old 

(Oh, faintly — oh, slozvly the bell will be 

tolled 

By the palsied hand!), may a page be bold 

To cry: Here is thread for a loom to hold; 

*'And a small, pale singer, who climbs the stair, 

Hath need, great need of the cloth of 

goldr 



2IO RUBAIYAT OF SOLOMON. 

Will that skein, by the reel from the spindle 

caught, 
Be zuarped and woven and all in-ivrought 
With shimmering pearls through the deep seas 
brought F 
Now tell me, all ye zvho are lifted high 
(The bell, oh, the bell! let the murmurs 

die 
While we listen — listen!), may one draw 

nigh 
And zmtch, as the weaving shuttles flyf 
Be clothed zvith that loveliness — passing 
thought f 
Yea, speak zvith the King as the King 
moves by? 



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